Dive Brief:

• Startup Amprius has completed a $30 million venture capital round of funding that will support the startup company's effort to build batteries using silicon instead of carbon for the electrodes.
• Amprius estimates that using silicon-based anodes could increase the energy density of lithium batteries by 40%. However, silicon is hard to work with in batteries.
• Amprius is focused on bringing a battery to market in 2015 for the consumer electronics sector, followed by larger batteries for vehicles.

Dive Insight:

While Amprius is still several years from making batteries that could be used in vehicles, the company's latest funding round shows the interest that investors have in battery technology. Energy storage can make the grid more efficient, increase the appeal of distributed generation and help integrate on-again, off-again renewable facilities like wind and solar.