What makes the future bright but challenging is the advance and direction of technology, and nothing could be more to the point today than battery technology. In a previous column I spoke about how batteries are the missing link to alternate and independent energy.

As promised, this month’s column is on SSB technology — solid-state battery — and where it fits in the battery landscape.

When referenced in tech terms solid-state used to mean “transistorized.” It came out of the ‘50s because transistors were coming on board replacing vacuum tubes that were, by comparison, very delicate. However, when used in context with batteries it means something much different. In today’s battery technology the term “solid-state” has nothing to do with transistors. Here, solid-state means not having any liquid component in the battery. Instead the battery uses a “solid’” electrolyte.

According to the Smith College Museum of ancient inventions, the Baghdad Battery is believed to be about 2,000 years old (from the Parthian period, roughly 250 BCE to CE 250). The jar was found in Khujut Rabu just outside Baghdad; it is a clay jar with a stopper made of asphalt. Sticking through the asphalt is an iron rod surrounded by a copper cylinder. When filled with vinegar — or any other electrolytic solution — the jar produces about 1.1 volts. Scientists believe it was used to electroplate gold to silver, a technique still used in Iraq. The first battery was........

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