Aqueous Hybrid Ion batteries produced by Aquion Energy.
We all know that solar and wind power represent limitless resources of clean energy for us, but a major issue with the energy produced by solar panels and wind turbines these days is represented by the batteries used to store the energy.
Luckily, many companies have tried and are still trying to find a better battery that can easily store large quantities of clean energy for long periods of time.
The old lithium-ion battery introduced by Sony more than two decades ago is still present in almost all the batteries used today for energy storage and electric cars, and even if they are pretty pricey, they have their limits and they are also flammable.
To solve the fire danger, a team of Harvard researchers unveiled this year a flow battery that is made of high-performance materials which are non-toxic, non-corrosive and cheap, and for sure they will not catch fire.
The flow battery stores energy in external liquid tanks and the amount of energy that can be stored depends on the size of the tank, so the bigger the tank, the more energy can store.
The battery performs well and it was licensed to a European company.
The liquid used contains organic molecules called quinones and a non-corrosive and non-toxic ion called ferrocyanide.
I know that cyanide is a scary word for many, but the Harvard team announced that ferrocyanide it is very safe to use, and is also commonly used in agriculture and the food industry as fertilizer, and food additive.
In May, 2015, Tesla Powerwall was announced by Elon Musk, and the unit is considered very useful for solar energy storage at home.
The U.S. utility called Vermont’s Green Mountain Power offers the option to buy or lease the Powerwall to all its customers.
Aquion Energy, a company from Pittsburgh, announced the creation of the saltwater battery that is a relatively cheap and environmentally friendly battery, which requires only saltwater and a few common materials.
A saltwater battery with the size of a small refrigerator or dishwasher can store enough solar or wind energy to power a single-family home that lives off the grid.
I hope that the year 2016 will bring new breakthroughs in terms of energy storage systems because only a cheap battery that can store a large quantity of solar and wind power is needed to see a broad development of these renewable energy devices.