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Rechargeable Zinc-Air Battery Nears Commercial Release (phys.org)
Long-time Slashdot reader necro81 writes: Reported in the NYTimes and in Phys.org: NantEnergy, a company backed by California billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, announced Wednesday that it has developed a rechargeable zinc-air battery that can store energy at far less cost than lithium-ion. The technology avoids some of the downsides of li-ion, like flammability and the use of cobalt.
Unlike many battery-related announcements, this one is backed by real-world use. Over the past several years, NantEnergy has deployed their batteries for stationary, micro-grid and cell-tower use in nine countries — about 55 MWh of capacity so far. They claim they can now take commercial orders, for delivery next year, at less than $100/kWh of capacity, which is one-half to one-fifth the cost of available lithium-ion grid storage.
Unlike many battery-related announcements, this one is backed by real-world use. Over the past several years, NantEnergy has deployed their batteries for stationary, micro-grid and cell-tower use in nine countries — about 55 MWh of capacity so far. They claim they can now take commercial orders, for delivery next year, at less than $100/kWh of capacity, which is one-half to one-fifth the cost of available lithium-ion grid storage.
Typically solar power is dumped onto the wires, for use by factories during the day...... and then returned to homeowners by the Electric company at night
The problem is that netting to grid doesn't scale. Power consumption is higher during the day, but actually peaks between 4-7pm, when many businesses are still operating, but many people are also arriving at home and kicking on the AC. So power demand peaks just as the sun is setting.
There are several solutions:
1. Storage.
2. HVDC long distance transmission, so Arizona sun can power ACs in Florida.
3. Flexible pricing. People will conserve if they save enough. They don't need to run the dryer at 5pm.
We will likely need all of the above.