3 ms·

Pacemakers have had these for years, they exist just fine. They're not going to run your Li-ion-powered device because that device needs millions of times more

Pacemakers have had these for years, they exist just fine. They're not going to run your Li-ion-powered device because that device needs millions of times more power than a nuclear battery produces. The nuclear battery just produces it for millions of times longer. These are not a replacement for smartphone batteries. But they might do well for things like solar-powered remote weather stations (another place you'll also see radioactive power sources, though those tend to be thermal rather than betavoltaic). A wristwatch might be interesting. These already run 7-10 years on a coin cell, or a few days per solar charge. A betavoltaic cell could likely produce enough power to drive the LCD if not the beeper, and do so almost indefinitely. I wonder what would wear out first.

paranoidrobot 6y ago
> A betavoltaic cell could likely produce enough power to drive the LCD if not the beeper Another product, perhaps - but not this one. While they're cagey about giving actual numbers - the rendering that Dave of EEVBlog found was of a 100 microwatt device, about the same size/volume as an AA battery. At 100 microwatts, that's apparently just enough to drive one segment of a watch LCD display[1]. [1] https://www.quora.com/How-much-power-is-consumed-by-one-segment-of-an-LCD-display-on-a-calculator-or-a-digital-watch https://www.quora.com/How-much-power-is-consumed-by-one-segm...
knolax 6y ago
> The nuclear battery just produces it for millions of times longer. IIRC Last time I checked most betavoltaic cells of this scale only last around 20 years.
- myself248 6y ago
  Sure, and a cellphone drains its battery in about 20 hours.
  - knolax 6y ago
    20 year / 20 hour = Year / Hour = 365 * 24 = 8760 hours per year, so about two orders of magnitude off from lasting "millions of times longer".
- knolax 6y ago
  Why am I being downvoted? Currently available betavoltaic cells are rated for about ~20 years[0][1]. [0] https://newatlas.com/city-labs-nanotritium-betavoltaic-battery/23720/ https://newatlas.com/city-labs-nanotritium-betavoltaic-batte... [1] https://citylabs.net/products/ https://citylabs.net/products/

paranoidrobot 6y ago

> A betavoltaic cell could likely produce enough power to drive the LCD if not the beeper Another product, perhaps - but not this one. While they're cagey about giving actual numbers - the rendering that Dave of EEVBlog found was of a 100 microwatt device, about the same size/volume as an AA battery. At 100 microwatts, that's apparently just enough to drive one segment of a watch LCD display[1]. [1] https://www.quora.com/How-much-power-is-consumed-by-one-segment-of-an-LCD-display-on-a-calculator-or-a-digital-watch https://www.quora.com/How-much-power-is-consumed-by-one-segm...

knolax 6y ago

> The nuclear battery just produces it for millions of times longer. IIRC Last time I checked most betavoltaic cells of this scale only last around 20 years.

myself248 6y ago
Sure, and a cellphone drains its battery in about 20 hours.
- knolax 6y ago
  20 year / 20 hour = Year / Hour = 365 * 24 = 8760 hours per year, so about two orders of magnitude off from lasting "millions of times longer".
knolax 6y ago
Why am I being downvoted? Currently available betavoltaic cells are rated for about ~20 years[0][1]. [0] https://newatlas.com/city-labs-nanotritium-betavoltaic-battery/23720/ https://newatlas.com/city-labs-nanotritium-betavoltaic-batte... [1] https://citylabs.net/products/ https://citylabs.net/products/