Li G.
Pacific Northwest National laboratory, US
Keywords: energy storage, low cost, Na battery, Zebra battery
Stationary electric energy storage devices have gained increasing prominence due to great market needs, such as smoothing availability of renewable energy resources and supporting the reliability of the electric grid. Among various battery technologies, with regard to raw materials availability, sodium based batteries are better positioned than lithium batteries due to the abundant resource of sodium in the earth’s crust. However, the sodium-metal halide (Na-MH) battery, one of the most attractive stationary battery technologies, is hindered from further market penetration by fast material degradation at high operating temperature, and high manufacturing cost. PNNL have been primary focused on developing advanced Na-MH battery technologies by lowering the operating temperature less than 200°C for longer cycle life and adopting low cost cathode materials. Particularly, lowering the operating temperature of a Na-MH battery opens great opportunities to adopt cost-effective sealing technologies (polymer seals) for the cell architecture to replace high cost sealing methods (such as glass seals, thermal compression bonding, and electron beam welding). In here, most recent progresses and perspective in Na-MH battery technologies for practical stationary energy storage application will be presented.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 2, Materials for Energy, Efficiency and Sustainability: TechConnect Briefs 2017
Published: May 14, 2017
Pages: 122 - 125
Industry sector: Energy & Sustainability
Topic: Energy Storage
ISBN: 978-0-9975117-9-6