Remove Charging Remove Low Cost Remove Molten Salt Remove Store
article thumbnail

Molten-Salt Battery Freezes Energy Over a Whole Season

Cars That Think

Scientists have been looking for solutions in gravity energy storage , thermal or geothermal storage , and also molten-salt batteries. A recent study from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) looks at molten-salt batteries that can “freeze” their charge for months until required.

article thumbnail

Researchers propose new aluminum–sulfur battery with molten-salt electrolyte; low-cost, rechargeable, fire-resistant, recyclable

Green Car Congress

An international team of researchers led by Quanguan Pang at Peking University and Donald Sadoway at MIT reports a bidirectional, rapidly charging aluminum–chalcogen battery operating with a molten-salt electrolyte composed of NaCl–KCl–AlCl 3. But this particular salt, it happens, is very good at preventing that malfunction.

article thumbnail

PNNL: single-crystal nickel-rich cathode holds promise for next-generation Li-ion batteries

Green Car Congress

Researchers are working on ways to store more energy in the cathode materials by increasing nickel content. Nickel offers relatively low cost, wide availability and low toxicity compared to other key battery materials, such as cobalt. Nickel-rich cathode materials have real potential to store more energy.

Li-ion 418
article thumbnail

Convert Oil Wells to Solve the Solar Storage Problem

Cars That Think

The California-based Hyperlight Energy will be piloting an installation where they plan to use existing oil wells as solar thermal wellsprings, with the stored energy being converted back to clean electricity when required. Thermal energy storage is a known low-cost, low-risk approach for storing solar energy in the form of heat,” adds Codd.

Oil 119
article thumbnail

Sadoway and MIT team demonstrate calcium-metal-based liquid metal battery

Green Car Congress

MIT professor Donald Sadoway and his team have demonstrated a long-cycle-life calcium-metal-based liquid-metal rechargeable battery for grid-scale energy storage, overcoming the problems that have precluded the use of the element: its high melting temperature, high reactivity and unfavorably high solubility in molten salts.

article thumbnail

New $30M ARPA-E program to develop new solar conversion and storage technologies; targeting higher solar penetration in mix

Green Car Congress

The high cost of grid electricity storage makes it best suited for high-value, short-term, frequency regulation; the lower value market for peak-shifted photovoltaic electricity is largely unprofitable, except where geography provides suitable reservoirs for lower-cost pumped-storage hydroelectricity. Category of interest 1A.

Solar 290
article thumbnail

ARPA-E to award $30M to increase performance of solid ion conductors for batteries, fuel cells

Green Car Congress

Program Categories include: Lithium (Li) ion conductors that enable the cycling of Li metal without shorting; Selective and low-cost separators for batteries with liquid reactants (e.g., in a fuel cell for combined heat and power applications) as well as to store electrical energy in chemical bonds (e.g. charging a battery).

Li-ion 150