Even though high-temperature superconductors (HTS) were discovered nearly 40 years ago, practical HTS conductors in the form of tapes were developed just recently. These materials presently attract major. Like any superconductor, HTS tapes conduct electrical current with zero losses, which allows more efficient energy transmission, magnetic levitation, magnetic resonance imaging, and many more.
Considering these advantages, Faraday Factory Japan was founded in 2011 to explore the opportunity of the new technological route for the production of HTS tapes.
HTS Tapes – The Solution to Global Climate Changes
A significant benefit of HTS tapes is that they require extremely small cross-sections to conduct the current. This makes possible very powerful and compact magnets for fusion energy, lightweight motors for electrical zero-carbon aviation, as well as compact and lightweight generators for wind power harnessing. Last but not least, HTS are extraordinarily efficient with regard to the use of metals – if used for cables, HTS helps to save about 85% of copper, for example.
All in all, HTS tapes are the best known material that can help reaching climate goals at a lower cost and at a higher speed. Even though devices made of HTS require cooling to cryogenic temperatures, they turn out to be the best candidates to disrupt some parts of the $200 billion copper market, because HTS gets considerably less-cost conductors as compared to copper. Sergey Samoilenkov, Director of Strategy at Faraday Factory Japan, says, “No wonder that the Nobel Prize in Physics crowned the discovery of HTS in 1987, and now we see that promises of the past’s science are turning to great achievements of today’s engineering.”
Faraday Factory: Enhancing Lives and Boosting Efficiency
HTS tape is a product of highly sophisticated engineering. Sergey explains, “It is made in a multi-stage process that requires state-of-the-art equipment like vacuum chambers, fine mechanics and optics, excimer lasers, magnetrons, electron and ion beams, and so on.” Hence, all producers of HTS tapes struggle with the complexity of the production process, which makes scaling very expensive. This is where Faraday Factory Japan stands out in the market.
Faraday is the largest producer of HTS tape across the globe. In fact, it was the first company ever to deliver HTS tapes in tons of quantities instead of kilograms, of thousands of kilometers, and not just hundreds of meters.
The availability of affordable HTS tape is crucial for the customers since their business plans entirely rely on the timely supply of this key material to their projects. Quantity, price, and timely delivery are where Faraday stands out from its competitors.
The Journey of Faraday Since Its Inception
Japan is a leading nation in many technologies. Sergey says, “Back in 2011, together with our colleagues who have been working in Japan for a long time in science and research, we founded the Faraday Factory Japan.” It was quite challenging at the time because then, very few investors believed in the opportunity. In fact, they did not see the perspective to drive HTS costs down to enable large-scale applications. However, in the 12 years that have passed, Faraday has proven it, growing the company from scratch to a worldwide leader in the industry.
The rapid growth of Faraday is a result of several things, among which are deep technology expertise, excellent team performance, and a risk-taking approach. In the past decade, the company has augmented its production by a factor of 300, driving down the price by 10 times.
Sergey says, “It takes a lot to stay in the game in this business because so many parts of it are complete “terra incognita”. You have to be very careful and yet not risk-averse to come to game-changing results. This skill is something that we mastered over the years and this helps us along the way.”
Faraday Factory – Helping in the Application of HTS Tapes Across Industries
Faraday Factory Japan is the most attentive HTS tape producer in the world since it always listens carefully to its customers. Its customers are the businesses that develop technologies that are best poised to disrupt some of the mature industries. Sergey says, “Just imagine how important is that: making limitless energy from fusion available for generations to come, enabling powerful and very efficient wind generators at high sea, helping to transform aviation to sustainable zero-carbon operation mode.”
Furthermore, effectively treating some kinds of tumors with high-energy particle beams, reaching into the mysteries of our Universe with the help of high-energy physics devices called colliders, and reaching for the stars with efficient space propulsion – all this is a very small part of what Faraday’s customers are about to do with the help of its HTS tape.
It is highly crucial that they utilize absolutely the best available HTS conductor that meets their needs precisely in order to make any of these breakthrough applications a real game-changer. This is why Faraday believes that it is vital to be attentive to engineers of HTS equipment and customize the tape to each application carefully.
For Faraday as a producer, the key challenge is to ensure that the cost of production does not go very high. Hence, to make sure, the company uses a variety of digital tools, including the Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence.
Staying Up to Date with the Ever-Changing Technological World
Sergey believes that the demand for HTS tape will continue to grow exponentially and sustainably for the next 20 years. Numerous global trends such as climate change, resource depletion, population growth, and electrification propel the acceptance of HTS technologies. He further says, “There are technological milestones that our customers will reach in 3 to 5 years from now. By this time, prototypes of fusion devices will be built and tested. If this proves to be successful, it will be the turning point for the energy industry at large, as with the fusion mankind will have the ultimate energy source found – the source that doesn’t consume fossil fuels is not intermittent, doesn’t pollute the environment and is easily scalable.”
“By the balance of this decade, some of the most disruptive solutions for the transmission of electric power will be tested, verified, and certified to be used in an electrical grid.” These novel superconducting transmission lines will allow strengthened urban grids necessary for EV charging, air-conditioning, and electrical heating as well as long-range high-power transmission lines for connection of renewables like subsea cables.
New generation power lines will not need any additional infrastructure, since superconductors allow them to transmit 5-10 times more energy using existing poles and cable channels. Essentially, a new grid can be built using existing rights of ways, ensuring a very rapid deployment.
The Faraday Team: Making it All Possible
The Faraday team has over 30 years of experience in high-temperature superconductors. Combined, they have published 400+ scientific papers that have been cited more than ten thousand times. After a successful career in academia, they realized that the Faraday Factory became a leading example of business success in the tough tech industry. It is the kind of industry that needs a lot of expenditure on capital besides several years of technology development to attain any measurable success.
Looking back, the Faraday team was the reason why the company acquired such astonishing results. The hard work over the years allowed the company to become effective and more efficient. For several years now, it has operated 24/7. Sergey says, “Faraday Factory became a home for several PhDs with an ability to invent new stuff and put it quickly into production.”
Overcoming Challenges with Great Determination
Since its inception, Faraday Factory Japan has faced several challenges. Among the greatest challenges in the history of the enterprise was when the team was required to operate at the limit of its capacity. This made the company scale up production simultaneously with executing the new large orders. Hence, the company went from one shift operation to working 24 hours, 7 days a week, invested significantly into new equipment, started renting new production spaces, and made a massive focused research and development effort to improve quality.
Sergey says, “I cannot really tell if this time is over now, as we are still massively growing and solving complex engineering tasks every day. We just probably got accustomed to this style of business, and our limits increased along the way. Great results can come only after significant effort and our team remains fully dedicated to providing everything that is required for success.”
Future Plans of Faraday Factory Japan
Presently. Faraday Factory Japan produces more HTS tape compared to other businesses in the industry. However, the company plans to double the production in a year. Further, it will move into the new larger production facility to the west from Tokyo. Sergey shares with us, “We have exciting plans for R&D and product development to make our HTS product even more useful and transformative to our clients. This time will be definitely exciting, as we approach the final proof of the HTS technology in multiple directions of the 21st-century economy.”
He further adds, “I am confident that Faraday Factory Japan will continue to create the industry-leading success story, setting new standards of production efficiency and enabling the seemingly impossible.”
Executive Name: Sergey Samoilenkov
Title: Director of Strategy
Company Name: Faraday Factory Japan
Website: www.faradaygroup.com
