WCA September 2016

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Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2016
From the Americas
Lukas Anlagenbau GmbH is a family owned company,
established in 1959, that produces customer-specific
equipment for the wire and cable industry.
The focus of our products is complete taping lines
for producing taped or wrapped conductors with tape
materials like PTFE, Kapton, Mica, paper, etc.
Also for producing special cables for medical and
aircraft applications, our taping lines can be found at
many well-known suppliers worldwide.
Furthermore, the product range covers single
components like pay-offs, capstans, caterpillars and
take-ups, up to complete rewinding lines and fine wire
drawing lines for non-ferrous materials.
During recent years our development has been
advanced by a focus on energy and size reduction.
At this years´s wire China Show, we answer this
request with new components that are intended
to solidify the top position in taping machines for
magnet wire applications and to extend our business
in the cable industry with cost-optimized and easy-to-
integrate taping and heating solutions.
This should make our products more competitive
especially to the Asian market.
At our booth at wire China 2016, booth no. W1D54,
we are looking forward to meeting new and existing
customers.
Am Forst 1, 92648 Vohenstrauss • Phone: +49 9651 / 930-0 •
At Wire China 2016, we look forward to welcoming
you at our booth no. W1D54 for closer informations
on our taping machinery.
customer satisfaction, and greenhouse gas reduction as
they plan for future demand. Compared to 41 per cent in
2013, 64 per cent of USA respondents now have an internal
or publicly stated carbon reduction goal.
As the energy executives were meeting in Washington, the
Electric Vehicle Symposium in Montreal was generating
news very much in line with their concerns and objectives:
the introduction by BMW’s electric vehicle (EV) unit of an
energy storage system powered by the BMW i3 vehicle
battery. The system can connect with charging stations,
solar panels, and new or used “second life” EV batteries.
The used but still operational EV batteries present an
economical alternative to more expensive new batteries for
residential energy storage.
Circumventing the local power grid
As reported by April Nowicki in Smart Grid News, the
batteries powering the BMW storage system have 22 kWh
or 33 kWh capacity, enough for up to 24 hours of operation.
According to 2014 data from the Energy Information
Administration, USA households typically use between
15-30 kWh daily. Because the electric draw is typically
lower in homes compared to automotive usage, the BMW
storage system would seem a likely application for retired
i3 batteries. (“BMW to Recycle i3 EV Batteries for Home
Energy Storage,” 23rd June)
Ms Nowicki noted that individual battery storage systems
are important in the transition to a modernised electricity
grid, as they enable privately generated renewable power
to be tapped on-site instead of being fed into a local power
grid.
Utilising real-time energy readings, the BMW system
measures available energy supply and demand, making
the necessary calculations to determine the optimal time
to charge or discharge. It includes a voltage converter
and power electronics to manage the energy flow among
renewable energy sources, the house interface, and the
Li-Ion high-voltage battery from the BMW i3.
Last year, BMW and Pacific Gas and Electric announced
a partnership researching how vehicle to grid (V2G)
technologies can benefit a modernised electricity grid with
load management services.
 In the same week that BMW introduced its
battery-powered energy storage system in Montreal,
Tesla Motors announced its bid to acquire the energy
services provider SolarCity, also California-based. If
successful, the EV maker would be able to offer its
customers an end-to-end energy production, distribution
and storage system. Tesla’s Powerwall battery storage
has 6.4 kWh capacity.
Dorothy Fabian – Features Editor