Rechargeable Zinc Batteries Hit Shelves—At Camera Stores

The Quantaray Super Z is here!

No, it’s not the crystal formulation from Antares 7 that Captain Kirk has to insert into the fusion chamber or the ship will blow.

It is the brandname of rechargeable nickel-zinc battery that Ritz Camera has begun to carry. The battery is made by PowerGenix. The batteries fit into standard AA battery slots. However, the batteries pack more charge than most existing rechargeable AA batteries so consumers should get brighter flashes and more shots per charge.

The company is also trying to get other retailers or battery makers to release PowerGenix batteries under different brand names.

Thomas Edison tried to perfect rechargeable zinc batteries several decades ago. Zinc batteries, however, historically only lasted a few recharges. PowerGenix has tinkered with the formula to make them commercially viable. The company also makes batteries for power tools and will aim at putting its batteries into plug-in cars. Dan Squiller, CEO of PowerGenix, talked about his technology in a video recently.

It’s a zinc renaissance we’re living in, by the way. ZPower (formerly Zinc Matrix Power) has come out with silver-zinc batteries that will be an option on some notebooks next year. Others are looking at large-format zinc batteries for storage at power plants.