Form factor is becoming a major driver shaping innovation and transforming the energy storage industry globally.

Electronics embedded within the structure of bridges, walkways, EVs, aircraft and more, have the potential to be a $60 billion market by 2025.

The event Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Forum consisted a conference with about 70 delegates and a small display area for a few organisations. Here we give some details of the presentations that particularly caught our attention.

The Reed Exhibitions event last week consisting of PV Expo, Battery Osaka and Smart Grid Expo successfully extended an event that started with photovoltaics last year.

Graphene electrodes are one of the best prospects for enabling supercapacitors and superbatteries to take up to half of the lithium-ion battery market in 15 years - amounting to tens of billions of dollars yearly.

Graphene could radically improve batteries and supercapacitors as explained in the new IDTechEx report Functional Materials for Supercapacitors/Ultracapacitors/EDLC 2015-2025.

The replacement of batteries means grabbing a chunk of the lithium-ion battery market in particular but also inroads into lead-acid and nickel metal hydride territory.

It is now commonplace for supercapacitors to be placed across lithium-ion batteries. Indeed, in some applications, the battery is now omitted and the supercapacitor does the job on its own as with some hybrid and pure electric bus traction systems and power tools.

New research by IDTechEx in the report Graphene Markets, Technologies and Opportunities 2014-2024 External Link shows that graphene markets will grow from around $20 million in 2014 to more than $390 million in 2024, at the material level.

The heart of the e-textile business as it emerges is electric and electronic functionality from sensing to light emission, achieved entirely by use of e-fibers.

In the recently updated report Electrochemical Double Layer Capacitors: Supercapacitors 2014-2024 IDTechEx confirms its outlook for a 30% CAGR in the next 10 years, based on 2013 industry results.

Overall, 2014 is expected to be a great year for the supercapacitor industry. Based on 2013 industry results, IDTechEx confirms its outlook for a 30% CAGR External Link in the next 10 years. The supercapacitor market will reach a value of $6 billion in 2024.

IDTechEx's Supercapacitor Europe 2014 conference brought together the best of supercapacitor developments in the region and internationally in Berlin on 1-2 April last week.

The brand new IDTechEx Research report E-Textiles: Electronic Textiles 2014-2024 External Link has a particular focus on the narrow definition of those entirely reliant on e-fibers for electronic, electro-optic and electrical functionality.

Delegates from 23 countries will converge in Berlin on 1-2 April at Energy Harvesting & Storage - Europe's leading event on the topic. The event features end users across multiple verticals presenting and attending to discuss their key energy harvesting needs.

IDTechEx's Supercapacitor Europe 2014 conference is bringing the best of supercapacitor developments in the region and internationally to Berlin on 1-2 April.

There are many cell phone problems that represent huge commercial opportunities over the coming decade as their form and function are transformed beyond recognition.

The supercapacitor industry closed last year (2013) with a continued double-digit growth. According to Maxwell Technologies' executives, China has been the main source of growth. New announcements confirm what IDTechEx has stated in recent years: the supercapacitor and the battery industry are the same.

One way that supercapacitors are developing faster than batteries is in the choice of format, from transfer printable ones for mobile phones to load-bearing structural components and smart skin for vehicles.

In this article we share some of the findings in the new IDTechEx report "Future Mobile Phone/Cell Phone Technology and Functions 2014-2024".