Not sure who wrote this article knows what they are talking about (AI maybe?)
Compact yet powerful, the BV100 is about the size of a small coin and delivers a power output of 100 microwatts at 3 volts. While its current capacity is insufficient for high-energy devices like smartphones or laptops, Betavolt envisions applications combining multiple batteries to meet greater demands. The company plans to launch a more powerful one-watt version later this year, with uses ranging from consumer electronics to drones capable of flying continuously without recharging.
A drone that can run off 1 watt battery ?!! Try 10 watt for a tiny one.
It is highly resistant to extreme conditions, operating reliably in temperatures ranging from -60°C to +120°C without self-discharge or risks of fire or explosion.
The battery relies on nuclear decay. Nuclear decay has fixed half life. the battery would be dead after the 50 years whether you used it or not so what does it mean “no self discharge?”
Tiny wattage, but still useful, especially if you can group these into larger battery packs
the article, that you posted, discusses combining the batteries for larger applications.
Haven’t these been around for ages? All the heavy crypto servers I’ve worked with have had nuclear batteries because they kept keys in volatile memory, and the trickle current keeps the supply of power from being accidentally interrupted and dumping all the keys. Is it just the new form factor that’s novel?
Higher power output, smaller form factor, cheaper manufacturing process and safer to handle
As radioactive decay can’t be stopped, I’m assuming this emits power continuously. Whatever this is used for won’t have any On/Off buttons.
You can probably turn the device off, but you won’t save any battery.
On/off isn’t a problem, the batteries continuously produce energy but a mechanical switch can still toggle the connection to the device.
I was wondering would they have over-heating problems, but the energy is so small it can probably be dissipated elsewhere.
