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A Solar Rechargeable Flow Battery Based on Photoregeneration of Two Soluble Redox Couples

A solar rechargeable redox flow battery is proposed based on the photoregeneration of I3−/I− and [Fe(C10H15)2]+/Fe(C10H15)2 soluble redox couples, which can be regenerated by flowing from a discharged redox flow battery (RFB) into a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) and then stored in tanks for subsequent RFB applications This technology enables effective solar-to-chemical energy conversion. DOI: [...]

On the importance of reducing the energetic and material demands of electrical energy storage

http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/C3EE24040A This analysis indicates that energy storage could provide some grid flexibility but its build up will require decades. Reducing financial cost is not sufficient for creating a scalable energy storage infrastructure. Most importantly, for grid integrated storage, cycle life must be improved to improve the scalability of battery technologies. As a result of the [...]

Potato Battery Outcompetes Energizer Battery

In this work, we present a novel technology to produce electric energy from food; in particular from commercial potatoes. The food has been sandwiched between two metals; for example, Zn/potatoes/Cu and the open circuit electric potentials Voc have been measured. It has been found that Voc lay in the range Voc 0.32 V < Voc < 1.39 V and decays exponentially [...]

A Manmade Island to Store Wind Energy

This illustration shows how the artificial island would use pumped hydro energy storage where water is pumped to a reservoir during off-peak times and released to a lower reservoir later to generate electricity.Perhaps it’s not surprising that people from countries with experience holding back the sea see the potential of building an artificial island to [...]

A Nation-Sized Battery?

The Intermittency Challenge and the approaching need for massive storage of rapidly dispatchable energy has led the concept of the National Battery, a unified facility that holds the aggregated outputs from an array of intrinsically episodic renewable sources, releasing energy as demand requires. In this contribution, the original demonstration of Murphy that lead-acid batteries are [...]

Donald Sadoway: The missing link to renewable energy | Video on TED.com

This is how the idea is introduced: Donald Sadoway is working on a battery miracle — an inexpensive, incredibly efficient, three-layered battery using “liquid metal.” Professor Sadoway explains that his angle has been to design around the oil price point, not around some wild and cool technology that can never compete economically. He goes on [...]

A review of energy storage technologies for wind power applications

Due to the stochastic nature of wind, electric power generated by wind turbines is highly erratic and may affect both the power quality and the planning of power systems. Energy Storage Systems (ESSs) may play an important role in wind power applications by controlling wind power plant output and providing ancillary services to the power [...]

Comparative life cycle assessment of thermal energy storage systems for solar power plants

The present work compares the environmental impact of three different thermal energy storage (TES) systems for solar power plants. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for these systems is developed: sensible heat storage both in solid (high temperature concrete) and liquid (molten salts) thermal storage media, and latent heat storage which uses phase change material (PCM). [...]

Al Bids to Vie With Li in Battery Wars

The global market for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries has risen fivefold to $10 billion a year over the past decade. But lithium supplies are limited, and the cost of the metal has skyrocketed in recent years. So researchers are on the lookout for novel battery chemistries. At the meeting, researchers described materials that could pave the [...]

Baseload electricity from wind via compressed air energy storage (CAES)

This study investigates two methods of transforming intermittent wind electricity into firm baseload capacity: (1) using electricity from natural gas combined-cycle (NGCC) power plants and (2) using electricity from compressed air energy storage (CAES) power plants. The two wind models are compared in terms of capital and electricity costs, CO2 emissions, and fuel consumption rates. [...]