“The Future of Energy is Here” Panel Highlights Vanadium Flow Batteries
Date: Apr 16, 2018
The 2018 Advanced Energy Conference, titled “The Future of Energy is Here,” wrapped up its three-day event in New York City on March 29th.
The robust agenda of North America’s most comprehensive and influential energy event explored topics headlining energy news today — energy storage and efficiency, smart buildings, microgrids, alternative fuel vehicles, modern utility grids, and, of course, wind, solar, and geothermal power.
The event was sponsored by NYSERDA, National Grid, NY Power Authority, Stony Brook University, PSEG Long Island, NextERA Energy Resources LLC, Statoil, and the NY State Smart Grid Consortium.
Leaders from industry, academia, and energy provision joined to discuss the latest advancements in energy, the environmental concerns driving change, and the challenges new technology business models face going forward.
As part of one of the roundtable panel discussions, “Technology to Market,” StorEn’s Chief Technical Officer, Angelo D’Anzi, shared information about StorEn’s vanadium flow battery and addressed the following topics:
Technological and Performance Advantages of StorEn’s Patent-Pending Batteries
Although history shows redox fuel cell concepts emerged around 1955, NASA brought the idea to life in the ’70s during the energy crisis of that time. Solutions for saving large amounts of energy reliably and safely existed with stationary electrical energy storage systems, but early efforts required a large mass of chemicals and proved too cost prohibitive for broad distribution. NASA continued development but struggled to find a solution that would deliver efficiency in fluctuating temperatures. In addition, the use of multiple chemicals — iron/chromium or iron/titanium increased the risk of cross-contamination in the electrolyte solution.
Lithium-ion batteries were developed in the ‘80s to meet the needs for more compact, higher capacity energy storage and are the most popular device today. While lithium provides a desirable lifespan and capacity, these batteries struggle to meet large-scale demands across seasons. Cycling capacity lessens and probability of overheating and risk of combustion increases with commercial use of current lithium-ion batteries. Further, electricity cannot be stored for very long periods of time (months).
StorEn created a vanadium flow battery as a safe, long-lasting alternative to current storage solutions. The StorEn team developed a battery that delivers several advantages through patented technologies:
- Higher power density than other vanadium flow batteries (about double that of competitors) to facilitate quicker recharge.
- An electrolyte rebalancing method and a leak elimination system to reduce the need for maintenance.
- An extended temperature range for operation to improve battery versatility.
