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Since 1984 Eagle-Picher Ind., Inc. has provided hardware and technical support to the budding solar vehicle industry. The batteries are used in the solar vehicles to provide storage of the electrical energy from the solar cells for use during brief periods when the power requirements exceed the capability of the solar cells, such as hill climbing, passing, or low sun conditions. Though the early development of these vehicles has focused on races which place emphasis on both speed and endurance, the ultimate goal is a commercial vehicle which will reduce the consumption of fossil fuels for transportation. Eagle-Picher Industries silver-oxide zinc system has proven ideal for use in this development phase because of their high energy density and reliability.

Nickel and silver-metal hydride batteries are being developed for aerospace applications by Eagle-Picher. Metal hydride batteries offer a number of advantages over other aerospace battery systems. Nickel-metal hydride batteries have twice the gravimetric energy density of nickel-cadmium and twice the volumetric energy density of nickel-hydrogen. Silver-metal hydride batteries have the potential of three times the energy density of nickel-metal hydride and exhibit superior charge retention characteristics. Aerospace metal hydride batteries are hermetically sealed, operate at low pressure and are prismatic in geometry. They exhibit excellent overcharge and overdischarge capability. Preliminary calorimetry data indicates superior thermal performance as compared to nickel-cadmium and nickel-hydrogen batteries. Some initial AC impedance spectroscopy work has been completed on both metal-hydrogen and metal-hydride battery systems.