Building the World's Biggest Lithium Ion Battery Plant

Due to open this summer, the Gigafactory in Nevada, US, includes controlled environments that will provide sustainable vehicle developer, Tesla, with the battery cells to power its Model 3 cars

The Gigafactory is being created to manufacturing the volumes of long-range battery packs required by sustainable vehicle producer, Tesla, for its mass market electric vehicles.

With a planned production rate of 500,000 battery powered cars per year in the latter half of this decade, Tesla alone will require today’s entire worldwide production of lithium ion batteries.

Construction on the Gigafactory began in 2014 outside Sparks, Nevada and the company expects to begin cell production in 2017. By 2020, the Gigafactory will reach full capacity and produce more lithium ion batteries annually than were produced worldwide in 2013.

The Gigafactory name comes from the factory’s planned annual battery production capacity of 35GWh.

The initial plans unveiled for the facility just north of Reno, were for a 1,000-acre facility. But because the demand for Tesla’s static energy products has risen and its Model 3 pre-order numbers have soared, the California company has decided to expand its plans.

The Gigafactory site will cover an area greater than 3200 acres (13km2), with initially a 1.9m ft2 (177,000 m2) of operational space, arguably making it the world’s biggest building by footprint.

The Gigafactory will be managed by Tesla, with Panasonic joining as the principal partner responsible for lithium-ion battery cells whose production will occupy approximately half of the planned manufacturing space; key suppliers combined with Tesla's module and pack assembly will comprise the other half of this fully integrated industrial complex.

Panasonic will manufacture and supply cylindrical lithium-ion cells and it has invested in the associated equipment, machinery, and other manufacturing tools. Tesla will take the cells and other components to assemble the battery modules and packs.

Factory Stats:

Capacity: annual battery production of 35GWh
Total site area: greater than 3200 acres
Factory space: initially 1.9m ft2 (177,000 m2)
ISO Class: Dry rooms for lithium ion battery production are typically ISO Class 7 to 6
Dry room parameters: <1–10% RH and Dew Point of -40° to -50°F

The huge factory is shaped like a diamond (to reduce groundworks) and is aligned on true north so that the engineers can map out using Global Positioning System (GPS) where the equipment is going to be.

The facility will be run on energy produced by solar panels on the roof, as well as geothermal and wind power systems.

When constructing a lithium ion battery plant, several of the assembly steps require cleanroom, cleaning areas and packaging areas that ensure the substrates do not contribute contamination to the process. Because of the reactive nature of lithium with moisture in the air, lithium battery manufacturing also requires specialized ‘dry rooms’.

Specific requirements for such rooms can vary but would typically be ISO Class 7–6 cleanroom, with below 1–10% Relative Humidity and a Dew Point of -40° to -50° Fahrenheit.

Panasonic employees will be involved in training local staff to ensure that the Gigafactory’s controlled environments are constructed and operated correctly.

Tesla projects that the Gigafactory as a whole will employ about 6,500 people by 2020.

Imec Announces the Opening of Imec Florida

Imec, a nanoelectronics research center, announced the opening of Imec Florida, a new entity focusing on photonics and high-speed electronics IC design based in Osceola, Florida. Imec Florida kicked off with the signing of a collaboration agreement with the University of Central Florida (UCF), Osceola County and the International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research (ICAMR), which is setting up fab facilities for the development and production of highly innovative III-V-on-silicon solutions for a broad range of applications including sensors, high-speed electronics and photonics.

Imec Florida will be established as a design center facilitating the collaboration between Imec’s headquarters, based in Leuven, Belgium, and U.S.-based semiconductor and system companies, universities, and research institutes. Imec Florida’s initial focus will be the R&D of high speed electronics and photonics solutions, starting with an offering of IC design research for a broad set of semiconductor-based solutions such as THz and LIDAR sensors, imagers, and a broad range of sensors. It will also provide IC design needs that will be driving the ICAMR manufacturing research. Through Imec Florida, Imec’s design, prototyping and low-volume production service – also named Imec IC-link – will provide the US market low-cost access to advanced foundry services, helping entrepreneurs to (industry and academia) design innovative products and get them to market.

Funding for Imec Florida will come from Osceola County, and the University of Central Florida. The new center will attract top talent through future strategic partnerships, with the aim to employ about 10 scientists and engineers by the end of the year and increase to 100 researchers in the next five years. Heading up the facility as General Manager will be Imec’s Vice President Bert Gyselinckx who previously served as general manager at Imec in Eindhoven, the Netherlands and helped to co-invent many technologies deployed by innovative semiconductor and consumer electronics companies.

“As the U.S. semiconductor market continues to strengthen with semiconductor manufacturing, equipment, materials and system innovation, we are extremely pleased to collaborate with partner organizations in Florida and see Osceola County in the Orlando region as an interesting location to drive the next phase of Imec’s growth and innovation,” stated Luc Van den hove, president and CEO of Imec. “Together with industrial and academic partners, we want to develop sustainable solutions and technology to accelerate innovation and stimulate economic growth within Osceola County and the State of Florida.”

“Imec’s international prestige gives us the opportunity to leverage its standing in a field that is growing exponentially in order to recruit more partners and funding for our work at the new Design Center and the Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center,” said Osceola County Commission Chairwoman Viviana Janer. “The relationships and people that Imec brings to our operation are tangible ways that Osceola County’s 5-year, $15 million investment will be more than re-paid. It’s important to realize that the new Design Center is going to capture the attention of everyone in this field, thereby ensuring maximum utilization and value of the FAMRC.”

“The Imec Design Center is the funnel that will fill ICAMR with high-value manufacturing opportunities and we will work closely with them to make sure our capabilities tightly align with their technology direction, said ICAMR CEO Chester Kennedy. “This partnership is poised to shine the global high-tech spotlight on Central Florida.”

On July 11, 2016, Imec introduced Imec Florida to the semiconductor industry at its annual Imec Technology Forum (ITF) USA, a half-day conference in San Francisco Calif., at the Marriott Marquis. ITF USA is part of Imec’s prestigious worldwide ITF events, organized in conjunction with SEMICON West and supported by SEMI. With the theme ‘Towards the Ultimate System’, Imec’s highly acclaimed speakers and industrial keynote speakers will look at the co-optimization of design and new technology, and how technology innovation can deliver the right building blocks to build these systems.

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