"Without a way to store their power, no number of solar panels will free a home from the electrical grid."
This is a issue I have struggled with in my own personal head over the thought of adding solar, wind, or geo-thermal power.
Researchers at Utah-based Ceramatec have developed a new battery that can be scaled up to store 20 kilowatt-hours; enough to power an average home for most of a day. An easy sell for solar users, but it could also allow the grid-bound to stockpile energy during less expensive off peak hours.
The new battery runs on sodium-sulfur, a composition that typically operates at greater than 600 F. " Sodium sulfur is more energetic than lead-acid, so if you can somehow get it to a lower temperature, it would be valuable for residential use," Ralph Brodd, an independent energy conversion consultant, says.
Ceramatec's new battery runs at less than 200f. The secret is a thin ceramic membrane that is sandwiched between the sodium sulfur. Only positive sodium ions can pass through, leaving electrons to create a useful electrical current. Ceramatec says that the batteries will be ready for market testing in 2011, and will sell for about $2000.
That may sound like a large about of money, yet when you think about the fact that 20 kilowatts per hour could power a typical north american home for most of the day, it would then relieve the typical strain that is on the already taxed system in North America. The savings could be well over $2000 for every single house hold that use's it per year. The technology will also be transferable to electrical cars, and bikes. With a batter the size of a pancake in current lab trials, once it is scaled up, it would fit into a stand up Tool box.
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