29 November 2007

Battery power gains some strength

A new type of battery-based storage may soon advance wind and solar power.

“Cost effective, high performance energy storage has been the missing link for renewable energy,” said Dr. John Wright, director of the Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Energy Transformed National Research Flagship.

Current battery storage solutions undergo frequent deep discharging and are unable to meet high power demands. They are also expensive due to high initial cost and short battery life.

CSIRO and Cleantech Ventures invested in technology start-up Smart Storage Pty Ltd to develop and commercialize this battery-based storage solution. The Smart Storage battery technology aims to deliver a low cost, high performance, high power stationary energy storage suitable for grid-connected and remote applications, which would work well in developing solar and wind power solutions.

“The Smart Storage technology is based on CSIRO’s ‘Ultrabattery,’ which has been successfully trialed in hybrid vehicles,” Wright said.

Extensive technology development is now underway to produce a low cost and easily manufactured deep-cycle stationary battery that meets demanding variable operating conditions.

The Smart Storage technology is a hybrid battery, which combines an asymmetric ‘supercapacitor’ electrode and a lead-acid battery in a single unit cell. Advanced materials used for the electrodes and current management absorb and release charge rapidly and at efficiencies well above conventional battery types.

The discharge and charge power of the Smart Storage battery should be 50% higher and its cycle-life at least three times longer than that of the conventional lead-acid counterpart.

“Most importantly, our technology development path is directed toward manufacturing in existing lead-acid battery plants,” said Andrew Pickering, a principal at Cleantech Ventures.

“Too often new technologies simply aren’t affordable and that significantly retards market uptake,” Pickering said. “Investments in energy storage technologies have excellent potential for strong returns given the growing market demand and the lack of viable solutions.”

For related information, go to www.isa.org/environment.