A clean energy startup based in Southern California is developing a power supply for remotely operated vehicles, which draws on temperature gradients in the ocean.
Seatrec's Trec Thermal RECharging Battery uses a non-toxic material with the capacity to dramatically expand and contract with changes in temperature. These changes in volume are used to generate electrical power.
Seatrec recently secured a seed round of financing to further develop the patented battery, which was researched, prototyped and field tested by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and is licensed to Seatrec by Caltech.
During an 18-month sea trial in deep waters off the coast of Hawaii, a TREC Battery-powered underwater unmanned vehicle (UUV) completed more than 1000 dives, each to a depth of 500m (1640ft) while recording depth, ocean temperature, and salinity.
At the end of each dive, its oceanographic data and GPS location were uploaded via satellite link to a ground station. When the autonomous test vehicle had completed its mission, it signaled its location with a GPS beacon for a successful recovery by ship.
The seed round funding for continued research, development, and commercialization of the TREC Battery ended in December 2016, including funds from angel investors, and grants from the US Office of Naval Research, Breakout Labs, and Schmidt Marine Technology Partners. Seatrec continues to vigorously pursue revenue growth with a focus on research and development for its next generation of commercial products, including a high-endurance underwater free-drifting UUV scheduled for sea trials in 2017, an underwater glider in 2018/19, and an underwater charging station for long-range propeller driven UUVs in 2020/21.