Solar Atmospheres of Western PA recently entered a five year partnering agreement with a leading energy storage company, HI-POWER, a Holtec International and Eos Energy Storage joint venture. HI-POWER builds one of the safest and fully integrated DC storage batteries in the world. Their “Znyth” storage batteries are especially stable when housed in extreme temperatures, and are nonflammable, and 100% recyclable.

This new battery technology, a decade in the making, is the most efficient non-lithium long duration energy storage solution. One of the critical components within the battery system requires a “vacuum cathodic” heat treatment process. This newly developed surface heat treatment process enables the product to last 5,000 cycles for a 15-year calendar life with no subcooling or pumps required. 

Mike Johnson, sales manager for Solar states, “I came upon this opportunity at a trade show four years ago. At that time, HI-POWER was perfecting their critical thermal cycle profiles in a small hot wall furnace in New Jersey. HI-POWER knew that someday they would need to employ a large vacuum furnace - and we had that capability.” Knowing the world’s demand for energy storage to reduce the grid requirements, Solar decided to partner with HI-POWER. Mutually, HI-POWER and Solar engineers worked diligently to develop the vacuum cathodic heat treatment needed to fulfill HI-POWER’s stringent specifications. Today, Solar Atmospheres of Western PA is thermally processing thousands of components to help HI-POWER deliver clean and reliable energy faster for the world’s needs.