Welcome to World Energy Labs

The Interrogator™ platform is a very flexible piece of hardware that can be used in many differnet applications.

World Energy Labs has been and is currently working a number of multinational corporations in both development and evaluation programs that apply and demonstrate the operational areas that benefit from WEL's technology. Below are some examples of current solutions in development with partners in various industries:

Mobile Telecommunications Operators Mobile telecommunications operators spend millions of dollars purchasing and maintaining industrial battery banks for power backup of mission critical switching and base-station site hardware. In the case of a power outage, "battery failure" can mean an interruption in the provision of mobile communications services in the local vicinity of the outage. This translates directly into lost revenues and dissatisfied customers. One of the largest U.S. mobile telecommunications providers has stated that an outage of one hour for a switch site in the U.S. will typically cost $800,000 in lost revenues. Obviously, the financial costs associated with an outage will vary from country to country, and also with relation to the density of the population being served by the site. Nonetheless, this example proves useful for understanding the financial and commercial importance of ensuring that industrial standby batteries are properly maintained so that they will perform when called upon. Presently, there is no technology that accurately and cost-effectively monitors the condition of the battery banks that must perform in the event of a power outage. As a result, most companies in the mobile telecommunications industry deploy one or both of the following "solutions to this problem":

Regular preventive maintenance visits to sites, performed by crews of qualified maintenance engineers.
Aggressive battery replacement policies, essentially replacing batteries long before they reach the end of their useful life.

World Energy Labs' technology essentially places a "battery expert" into the hands of every maintenance technician. With a rapid measurement, a technician can gain precise information on the current health of a battery as well as an accurate prediction of when each battery will approach failure. Furthermore, the technology allows a technician to gain valuable insights into the precise elements within a battery that have degraded and that could eventually cause a failure of the entire back-up power system precisely at the time when the battery comes under a load and must perform. The resulting cost savings for mobile telecommunications companies are realized as increased efficiencies in the time spent performing maintenance duties at base stations, coupled with a longer "effective battery life" of each battery or cell throughout the entire network. More importantly, telecommunications companies will enjoy a higher level of confidence that their back-up power systems will perform when called upon.

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Power Generation Plants and Utilities The world's demand for electricity is escalating. However, most consumers of electricity do not realize the vital role that stationary batteries play in the generation and reliable distribution of electricity. When a power generator is partially or completely shut down, it is often the batteries' responsibility to provide the electricity for the generators to re-start. In the case of a 'black-start' plant, the responsibility is even more crucial, as the plant will have to provide enough electricity to re-start other power generation plants within the same region or network. Within electrical utilities, a multitude of industrial batteries span the network and operate the switchgear that route power around trouble spots and keep control systems working during a power outage. When utility power is interrupted, the batteries take over the load and provide the required continual electricity until the utility power is restored. When the power is on, the batteries are necessary to enable the shifting of power on the grid. As cities and populations grow and begin to challenge the total capacity of local electric utility substations, the tasks performed by the switchgear become increasingly challenging, making the proper performance of the standby batteries even more crucial. As a result, power generators and utilities are placing increasing importance on the effective maintenance of their standby batteries. While this maintenance introduces additional costs to the utilities, it is insignificant relative to the damage that can be caused if the switchgear doesn't perform properly when called upon. Similar to the value proposition for mobile telecommunications operators, World Energy Labs' technology platform allows power generators and utilities to arm their maintenance teams with precise information on the current health of their batteries and predict when each battery will likely approach failure. The resulting cost savings for power generators and utilities come in the form of increased efficiencies of the maintenance teams and the longer "effective battery life" of each battery in the field. The most significant savings opportunities, however, arise from ensuring that the switchgear throughout a network will perform their duty properly and prevent the damage of expensive electrical generation and distribution equipment as well as loss of revenue or even liability issues.

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Uninterrupted Power Supplies (UPS) Increadible amounts of critical data, as well as vital systems protecting human life are protected by UPS systems. These systems depend in turn on batteries to supply power in the event of a network power failure. The consequences of the failure of UPS systems can therefor be horrendously expensive, both at he human level as well as at the business level. UPS systems are in effect an insurance policy against network power loss, and as with insurance the UPS owner must pay an additinal 'premium'. In the case of UPS systems these additinal premiums are the necesary maintenance on both the UPS system and the underlying batteries. The world best UPS is only as strong as the weakest battery that is installed within its system. The Interrogator™ helps the maintenance crew ensure that the batteries are in the best condition possible, and thus reduces the risk and associated cost of risk for the system that the UPS system is protecting.

WEL is working with several providers of UPS systems to develop the opportunities the Interrogator™ is capable of providing in this vital market.

Automobile Manufacturers As new safety, comfort and entertainment features are continually incorporated into new automobiles, the electrical demands and loads placed on automotive batteries are growing rapidly. Additionally, higher fuel efficiency, reliability and the goal of creating an enhanced driving experience are leading to the electrification of the traditional hydraulic and belt-driven systems. All of these features and improvements are leading to unprecedented electrical power demand levels in the average car. Several automobile manufacturers are managing these trends by designing automated or "smart" power controls integrated with the various power-consuming components of cars. These smart systems will allow a next-generation automobile's internal control system to continually monitor the health and charge of batteries including advanced battery systems as well as traditional SLI systems. If a battery's charge is abnormally low, these systems will modify the energy consumption levels of the various power-consuming devices and components throughout the automobile, allowing the battery to return to an acceptable level of charge more rapidly. Conversely, if these systems detect that the automotive battery is being overcharged (a process that can shorten battery life by driving off water and degrading electrodes), these smart systems will make the necessary adjustments and decrease the battery's charge levels. In order for smart systems to operate effectively, rapid and precise measurements of a battery's overall health and charge are absolutely essential. World Energy Labs' technological platform has already been recognized by our partners for its unprecedented levels of precision in assessing the health of both the battery and its individual components. Several automotive manufacturers have already approached World Energy Labs and are working with World Energy Labs' technical teams to integrate this new platform into their next-generation automobiles. With this monitoring technology operating as part of the overall smart power control systems, next-generation automobiles will prove not only more comfortable but also safer and more reliable.

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Industrial Battery Manufacturers Today, manufacturers of industrial batteries are under increasing pressure to remain price competitive while continuing to improve the quality and reliability of their products. Reconciling these objectives is now possible with World Energy Labs' technological platform, which can not only reduce battery-manufacturing costs but also mitigate risks related to the commissioning and warranty provision of batteries. As an industrial battery rolls off of the assembly line, it traditionally undergoes a crucial and lengthy "quality check" phase which represents a significant cost burden to the manufacturer. Most manufacturers will charge the newly assembled batteries for 24-48 hours, then allow them to "settle" for another 24-48 hours. Finally, after this lengthy cycle is complete, each battery is tested for health and charge. At this moment, if a battery does not meet its specification, it is either scrapped or disassembled and the components recycled. If manufacturers could find these faulty batteries and recycle them before the lengthy quality check, their savings in inventory costs and labor would translate into significant improvements in productivity and efficiency, ultimately translating to a lower cost per battery. World Energy Labs' technology allows the user to obtain a precise measurement of a battery's health regardless of its state of charge. This means that a battery's health can be accurately measured even if it is completely discharged or more importantly for the battery manufacturers before the battery has been charged for the first time! Now the assembly technicians and personnel can perform a quality check before initiating the lengthy charge and settle cycle. If a battery is destined for the scrap heap, it can be detected earlier in the process, freeing up costly inventory space for the charging and settling of the healthy batteries coming off the assembly line. The Interrogator™ technology can be tailored to detect specific manufacturing faults making quality assessment procedures increasingly valuable. It can also be tailored to specific battery types reducing the overall test time per battery. After assembly and shipment to customer sites, batteries can easily be mishandled and damaged during the installation and commissioning stage. Battery manufacturers can now require an immediate and detailed "health check" upon the arrival of the batteries at customers sites. This allows for a complete health audit trail, and where batteries are mishandled on their way to their functional sites or during commissioning, there is no longer any confusion regarding the responsible party.

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Fuel Cell Users/Manufacturers The worldwide need for cleaner, more efficient energy conversion technology is drawing ever-greater attention to electrochemical fuel cells. Unlike combustion engines, fuel cells are essentially pollution-free while also often providing more energy per unit weight and volume than battery-based systems. The cost-effective production of energy continues to be a key focus of this new industry, but other important challenges include the creation of an infrastructure to produce and distribute the selected fuel. Although many companies and research institutions are making considerable progress in the design of various 'traditional' and bio-fuel cells, most experts would agree that the fuel cell industry has yet to approach full commercial viability. Nonetheless, some designs have already moved beyond the laboratory and are now being deployed in various mobile and stationary field applications. World Energy Labs has partnered and is in the process of partnering with some of the top companies and institutions in the fuel cell industry to apply the Interrogator™ technology for the R&D of better fuel cells, fuel cell materials, and fuel cell testers. In both the laboratory and in real field applications, reliable monitoring of the efficiency and overall health of operational fuel cells is rapidly becoming an issue. Common failure modes such as flooding of air channels and dry-out of PEM fuel cell membranes can cause irreversible damage. In many cases, if a failure mode within a fuel cell is detected early, it is possible to take remedial action and avert failure or severe performance loss. The World Energy Labs' technology platform can function effectively with any electrochemical energy device. Hence, the same detailed level of rapid and precise measurements that can now be obtained using the Interrogator™ for traditional electrochemical energy storage media such as lead acid batteries can also be obtained for fuel cells. This enabling technology is expected to dramatically increase the reliability of fuel cells, especially where fuel cells are operating at their limits or in high power, mission-critical systems. Just as importantly, because the World Energy Labs' platform is contained within a mobile handheld device, field service can now be provided even in remote locations, a capability that is rapidly proving invaluable.

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