January 27, 2022: Lead-acid battery expert Tim Ellis has joined Silicon Joule battery maker Gridtential’s technical advisory board in what the firm said on January 18 was ‘a real coup’.

He will advise the firm on the roll-out of the company’s Silicon Joule battery technology, which is approaching commercial production with manufacturing partners, Gridtential said.

Ellis is the former president of RSR Technologies, the R&D unit of Ecobat. Before that he was director of materials research at Kulicke & Soffa, the semiconductor packaging and electronic assembly firm.

He has written dozens of scientific papers across metallurgy, semiconductor packaging technology, lead-acid battery materials, energy storage and recycling, and holds more than 20 US patents.

“If we’re to decarbonize, we need a way to efficiently produce millions of long-lasting, high-power batteries,” said Ellis. “Lead batteries offer the scale — they are low cost, highly recyclable and can be produced in today’s battery factories. Now, with Silicon Joule technology, they are lighter and more powerful. It can unlock new applications for lead batteries and accelerate the shift to renewable energy.”

“It’s a real coup to have him join our team,” said CEO John Barton. “His combination of experience in semiconductor and lead battery materials is the perfect match for Gridtential as we partner battery manufacturers to bring Silicon Joule to market.”

Gridtential is one of the more than 100 members of the Consortium for Battery Innovation.

In February 2021, the CBI supported a project between Gridtential and the battery research and testing firm Electric Applications Incorporated, which sought to develop ‘plug and play’ solar-powered energy storage systems specifically for behind-the-meter storage applications.