Experimental flow battery could help power rural Alaska

[jpak]

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/rural/story/8119368p-8011755c.html

FAIRBANKS -- Normally when someone gets a new toy, especially an expensive electronic gadget, they take very good care of it. But not Tom Johnson at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Energy Center.

"We're going to try to kill it," Johnson said with a devilish smile.

He was talking about the Energy Center's newest toy, an experimental battery that could make alternative power, like wind or solar power, more cost-effective in rural Alaska.

On Aug. 2, Johnson and his colleagues installed the new battery, known as a flow battery, in their lab on the UAF campus. The device, developed by VRB Power Systems Inc., of Vancouver, British Columbia, is about the size of three large refrigerators standing side by side. It hummed softly as its energy cells were charging up.

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[skids]

1. The great thing about these...

...is the dollar-metric :-) energy density is very low. All you do if you want a longer runtime out of the battery is add more tanks of electrolyte. The stack size only effects the power density, so you can size each according to the application.

[jpak]

2. Thought you would like this

:)

[JohnWxy]

3. more on VRB Power Systems of Canada

http://powerelectronics.com/news/vrb-power-regenesys/

VRB Power Acquires Regenesys Electricity Storage Technology
Oct 5, 2004 5:37 PM
Edited by PETech Staff

PowerVRB Power Systems Inc. has completed a transaction with RWE npower PLC, a leading integrated U.K. energy business and subsidiary of German-based parent company RWE AG, whereby VRB Power will purchase an exclusive global license to the intellectual property and acquire all the related physical assets and inventory surrounding the Regenesys electricity storage technology.
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With the addition of the Regenesys technology, VRB Power now has an effective range of products that can store energy from tens of kilowatt hours through hundreds of megawatt hours providing utility scale solutions using the ‘Electricity WarehouseT’ concept developed by Regenesys," said Hennessy.


MOre installations by VRB Power

More info in case studies:

http://www.vrbpower.com/applications/renewable-resources.html

[Dead_Parrot]

4. Cool...

...lets hope they fail (to break it, I mean).