Is Battery & Power Storage the Future?

Renewable energy sources are needed to create a more sustainable society. The issue with renewable energy sources is that they might not be produced during periods of peak energy demand, when they are most necessary. The production of energy from such sources is influenced by the surrounding environment. When it is windy, wind energy is captured, and sunlight is required to produce solar energy.

These challenges require a storage solution, which is where batteries come into play.

Due to the lack of supply of metals like cobalt, copper, lithium and nickel higher prices and shortages of these batteries are inevitable.

A team of researchers led by a MIT material chemist Donald Sadoway have invented a battery made of aluminum and sulfur, two of the most abundant and low-cost materials in the world. This battery already has an energy density comparable to  today’s lithium-ion batteries at cell level, and should come in at less than a sixth of their cost, the team reported in Nature on 24 August.  The battery has fast charging, non-flammable, the battery shows an energy density of almost 530 watts-hours per liter, on par with common lithium-ion chemistry.

Although this battery is still in the early stages of development, a firm has been set up to productize these batteries. We can expect more inventions like these. Lower battery costs is on the horizon and this is good news for any one looking at microgeneration for clean renewable energy