Over the past six years, 110 villages in Africa and Asia have received electricity from solar panels and batteries using zinc and oxygen.
These batteries are the foundation of the innovative energy storage system created by Patrick Soon's owned company NantEnergy.
Shiong, a biotechnology business and surgeon from South Africa.
Thomas Edison tried to develop a zinc battery before 100.
But he doesn't know how to make these technologies work.
NantEnergy said its zinc-air battery was the first to be commercialized.
NantEnergy's scientists say they have achieved two key goals: Charging the battery and reducing the cost of energy storage to $100 per kilowatt. hour.
Some industry insiders say this number is critical to creating carbon emissions --
Even if the sun goes down, the wind will weaken and the free power grid will run.
Zinc Air battery is one of several potential alternatives to lithium
Ion batteries have been the focus of large batteries so far
The scale of power storage and electric vehicles. Dr. Soon-
Shi Gong, who obtained zinc from Indonesia, cited the richness of the mineral.
According to the Sri R, the United States accounts for about 5% of the world's zinc reserves and 7% of its production, mainly from mines in Alaska.
Narayan, professor of chemistry at the University of Southern California.
Australia and China have half of the world's foreign exchange reserves and are one of the world's largest oil producers. Dr.
The reserves of lithium are the main elements of lithium, Narayan said.
An ion battery is
But he added a cautious remark.
"According to the current zinc production, the zinc reserves will last for about 25 years," he said . ".
"So it's not clear whether we have enough zinc to support the huge demand that comes from power grid demand --Scale battery.
Materials like lithium are expensive, in part because they are rare.
Lithium mining also threatens the health and safety of workers in resource-rich areas like Congo.
Long-term exposure to lithium is associated with health effects such as accumulation of liquid in the lungs. And lithium-
An ion battery can cause a fire.
According to the MIT Technical Review, zinc air batteries lack toxic compounds and are not flammable and can be safely disposed.
Nevertheless, there is a real danger in the mining and processing of zinc.
It comes from ores composed of free zinc sulfide, usually produced with lead, cadmium and nickel
Narayan said, big
Mass production can cause environmental problems from sulfur dioxide and cadmiumvapor release.
Dan Reicher, assistant energy secretary of the Clinton administration, warned that the cost of batteries per kilowatt
Hours depend on the application and size, which makes it difficult to compare useful.
Nantian Energy says the price per kilowatt is $100.
Hours, the cost of zinc air batteries is lower compared to lithium
$250 per kilowatt ion battery
But according to Yogi Goswami, a professor at the University of South Florida's distinguished University and director of the Clean Energy Center, hours are usually between $300 and $400.
Even $100 per kilowatt
An hour later, energy storage remains a major expense in the utilities industry, and while the price of batteries has been falling sharply, it is expected to be as prevalent as residential solar panels in the coming years.
Nantian Energy said that the current focus is to provide products for the micro-grid. self-Solar energy included-
Power array for small Area Service
Not for individual residential clients or utilities-scale systems.
But the company expects to supply home batteries in California and New York in the future.
Villages and islands using batteries
Package of briefcase size-
They are usually connected to the solar array column, and the size of this solar array may be found in the parking lot or in the school.
In addition, these batteries provide power to hundreds of communication towers, an important part of the South day energy business.
For the next version of the product, the company plans to add transportation systems such as electric vehicles, buses, trains and scooters. What about that?
"We have the first prototype of a mobile radio . "Soon-Shiong said.
"We don't want to commit to being too high, but the energy density of our batteries makes it possible.
"We will turn our attention to this market," he added . ".
"It's big, but it could be 2020 for us.
Jack Berg contributed the research.