Zinc8 Energy Solutions, a Canadian battery manufacturer, reminds us that, in addition to solid-state batteries, there are other hot new energy storage technologies on the market.
Zinc8’s innovative rechargeable zinc-air battery has been tested in New York State, and the business said earlier this month that it is also eyeing the Empire State as the location for its new battery manufacturing factory.
Zinc-air energy storage uses zinc particles and atmospheric oxygen to generate power on demand. Anyone who has used a hearing aid may be familiar with the technology in its single-use form.
Let top battery manufacturer Panasonic explain:
“Zinc Air batteries are excellent for hearing aids.” They have an extremely high energy density. Equal-size batteries can store twice as much energy than lithium-ion batteries. Zinc is also significantly lighter (and less expensive) than lithium, therefore hearing aids powered by Zinc Air batteries are more comfortable to use.”
Building upon the above, Zinc8 has developed a solution for energy storage that combines the zinc angle with flow battery technology, which is based on the ability of nearby fluids in motion to create electricity. This energy storage system has a capacity range of 20kW to 50MW, with an 8-hour capacity or higher as needed.
The Zinc8 system’s energy storage capacity is defined solely by the size of the zinc storage tank, making it a very cost-effective and scalable alternative to the lithium-ion battery’s set power/energy ratio.
Because of the low cost and abundance of their basic components, as well as their comparatively high energy density, zinc-air batteries have the potential to significantly increase the market for wind and solar power, including electric car batteries and utility-scale energy storage.
Reference- Zinc8 Online PR, Clean Tehnica, Popular Science, Innovations Today, Forbes, Business Insider