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Company Revolutionizes The Solar Energy Sector With Its New Air-Iron Battery: Innovative Technology Promises To Be Up To 10 Times Cheaper Than Lithium Ones, Transforming The Energy Storage Market.
The battery manufacturer Form Energy, from the United States, announced the creation of a new air-iron battery technology that can provide autonomy of up to 100 hours. The new battery can be used for storing renewable energy, such as solar and wind energy, being 10 times cheaper than a conventional lithium battery.
Understand How The New Air-Iron Battery Technology Works
The affordable battery makes use of oxygen to turn the iron present in the energy cell into rust and then turn it back into iron. This transformation process between iron and rust allows energy to be stored in the air-iron battery for a much longer time and more efficiently.
According to the CEO and founder of the American startup Form Energy, Mateo Jaramillo, the company conducted an extensive review of available technologies and reinvented the new air-iron battery to optimize it for solar or wind energy storage for several days in the power grid.
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With this new affordable battery technology, it has become possible to provide clean energy when and where it is needed, even during several days of extreme weather or outages in the grid.
Although it seems very advantageous, the new technology has issues. It would be great to use this new affordable and durable battery in cars or smartphones, but air-iron cells are still very large, each the size of a washing machine. They operate in huge sets, capable of storing larger amounts of energy for long periods.
New Technology Promises To Be 10 Times Cheaper
Like a traditional AA battery, iron cells and air electrodes are stacked inside a non-flammable electrolyte made from water. When grouped in an area of about 4,000 square meters, thousands of batteries together can provide up to 1 MW of energy, which would be enough to power 1,500 homes.
According to the head of research and development at ArcelorMittal, the steel manufacturer funding the project, Greg Ludkovsky, the new air-iron battery technology, which can store electricity for several days, has exciting potential to overcome the issue of intermittent supply and smooth out peaks in solar and wind energy distribution, as the air-iron battery “breathes” oxygen when it is discharged.
Batteries with current technologies cost an average of US$ 80, equivalent to about 480 reais per kWh of storage. According to Form Energy, the new air-iron cells could be sold for less than US$ 6 (36 reais) per kWh. Additionally, since they are made from a safe, cheap, and abundant material, they could become a viable energy source year-round.
When Can The New Affordable Battery Start Working And Be Sold?
Form Energy expects the first energy complex in the U.S., made exclusively with this new air-iron battery, to be fully operational by next year.
The company’s idea is to implement similar solutions in various parts of the country to reduce energy costs and ensure continuous supply in regions with high population density.
According to Mateo Jaramillo, one point to consider is the price per unit, as it involves large quantities to provide quality and intermittent supply. The new technology for solar and wind energy could be the key to the gradual replacement of systems based on extremely expensive and environmentally harmful fossil fuels.
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