John Byrne, founder of
Low Carbon Technology
(LCT), is no stranger to start-ups with an energy-saving slant. LCT is his third venture and its product is a potentially highly disruptive technology that can make battery arrays more effective.
Byrne trained as an accountant and practiced briefly before setting up a company to import energy-saving reflective panels in the mid-1990s. He then set up a company that used sheep’s wool as the key material in a new type of building insulation.
This company was subsequently relocated to Wales and sold. Byrne came up with the idea for his third business while working on the development of an EV (electric vehicle) upgrade kit that could be fitted to any car. The battery life proved to be a stumbling block and sent Byrne in search of a solution.
In 2013, he set up LCT with engineer Patrick Leonard to commercialise the technology. Mazhar Bari (formerly of Solar Print) and Prof Roy Douglas of the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queens University Belfast are also part of the team.
“The idea originated through frustration with the poor performance promised by EV batteries. This lack of performance seemed odd given the relative performance of smaller batteries and we discovered a cross-platform problem when it came to scaling up battery performance,” Byrne says.
“Our technology enables large battery arrays to store and transmit power more efficiently – an issue that has limited their use up to now.
“Current energy storage methods include Vanadium Flow batteries (where a large reservoir holds the fluid electrolyte containing the charge), compressed air or hydro.
“Of these, the cheapest is circa €700-800 per kW/hr stored, whereas the LCT solution will come to market for less than €400 per kW/hr.”
ICT is currently building its first field trial units for testing with clients across Ireland and its full market launch will be in about 18 months time.
The company’s primary market is the uninterruptable power supply market across the EU and US, for example, hospitals and large-scale ICT, manufacturing and industrial operations.
“In the medium term large markets will mature with wind, solar and wave energy farms coming on line and taking advantage of economically viable storage capacity,” Byrne says.
“Within the next three to five years we also expect our storage products to feature as part of the rollout of new smart grid infrastructure projects. The big challenge for us will be to get our system working efficiently so as to allow for the different usage profiles required by various clients.”
Byrne estimates the company’s development and start-up costs to date at about €250,000 and the company is one of just six selected to take part in the Venture Lab technology accelerator programme run by the National Digital Research Centre.
Comfort zone
"In setting up LCT we were able to take advantage of Enterprise Ireland CORD funding and have since gained investment from the NDRC. This has made a huge difference to the speed with which we have been able to develop and deploy our technology," he says.
“However, unless an idea is within the bio-medical or smart apps market, it can be hard to find an executive prepared to work outside their comfort zone and give a new idea a fair hearing.
“While we expect that LCT will be able to generate funding with less difficulty in the future, it is the transitional step between initial and follow-on funding where most projects fail – simply because their area of focus is not part of any current funding scheme.
“Hopefully, as the funding authorities review their policies for the future they will look beyond whatever tech is in fashion and remember that not all new science is spun out from universities.”
