Infinite Power Solutions

About Infinite Power Solutions

Infinite Power Solutions, Inc. (IPS) was a clean-technology firm established in 2001, with its headquarters and volume manufacturing based in Littleton, Colorado. The company specialized in the development and production of solid-state, rechargeable, thin-film micro-energy storage devices designed for embedded applications. Having raised a total of $106 million in funding over its lifetime from investors including Polaris Venture Partners, D. E. Shaw Ventures, and In-Q-Tel, IPS positioned itself as a key player in its niche. The company's trajectory culminated in its acquisition by Apple on January 1, 2014, after which it ceased trading.

The core of IPS's business was the manufacturing and sale of its THINERGY® and LITE*STAR series solid-state batteries. The flagship product, the THINERGY® Micro-Energy Cell (MEC), was a paper-thin, flexible, and rechargeable power source. These micro-batteries were engineered to displace conventional power sources like coin cells and supercapacitors in a variety of microelectronic applications. Key markets included military and aerospace, active RFID, implantable medical devices, powered smart cards, and wireless sensors.

The THINERGY® MECs offered a distinct set of features. Fabricated with all solid-state chemistry on a metal foil substrate, they were free of liquid or organic electrolytes, eliminating risks of chemical leakage or fire. This construction allowed for an ultra-thin profile (as slim as 170 µm), flexibility, and a wide operating temperature range from -40°C to +85°C. The cells boasted a very low self-discharge rate, losing less than 1% of charge over a year, and could endure tens of thousands of recharge cycles. A notable selling point was their suitability for energy harvesting applications; they could be efficiently recharged by low-current ambient energy sources like solar, thermal, and kinetic energy.