Market Analysis and Comparison of Battery Technologies

Fraunhofer ISE’s comprehensive market analysis for electrical energy storage systems examines all relevant aspects and topics to provide a holistic overview of the battery market. These include specific market sizes, their growth trends, global and regional distribution, trends and market drivers as well as the competitive landscape, i.e. key players and technological developments. The trends and market drivers in the battery market are extremely diverse. The most important of these are electromobility, i.e. mobile storage of electrical energy, and stationary battery storage as home and building storage, as well as buffering and grid stabilization of energy generated from renewable sources. Special applications in the aerospace sector and other applications in the mobility sector are also becoming increasingly important.

Depending on many factors, such as cost-effectiveness, performance and sustainability, certain battery technologies are favored over others. Our technology comparisons take into account our customers' requirements to determine the most appropriate technology. The most common and widely used technology is the lithium-ion battery. Here, layered oxides (such as lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide, LiNi_xMn_yCo_zO₂) and olivines (such as lithium iron phosphate, LiFePO₄) are predominantly used on the cathode side, while graphite or graphite mixed with silicon is usually used on the anode side. Solid-state batteries, in which a solid electrolyte is used in contrast to conventional lithium-ion batteries with liquid electrolytes, have the potential as a future battery technology to achieve significantly higher energy densities and faster charging times, since lithium metal or silicon can be used as high-energy materials on the anode side. Another important battery technology is that of sodium-ion batteries, which are manufactured almost identically to lithium-ion batteries (drop-in replacement). They usually use layered oxides or Prussian blue analogs on the cathode side and almost exclusively hard carbon on the anode side. The advantages of this technology are the use of readily available materials and better sustainability.

At Fraunhofer ISE, we conduct research in all of the battery technologies mentioned, especially in the development of cathode and anode active materials.