US-based start-up SorbiForce does not use toxic products or metals in the production of its batteries. It claims its systems are cheaper and safer than lithium-ion batteries and have virtually no end-of-life waste.
From pv magazine ESS news place
US-based SorbiForce says it has designed its battery energy storage systems to be fully recyclable, reducing environmental impact and promoting a circular economy.
The technology does not rely on fossil raw materials, but uses agricultural by-products, such as straw and brine from desalination plants, making them a sustainable alternative to lithium-ion batteries.
The company uses its own ultraporous carbon, water and salt to develop its battery storage systems. It uses locally sourced raw materials that are plentiful in most locations in the US, mitigating the supply chain risks associated with traditional battery components.
According to SorbiForce, the battery is resistant to mechanical damage, non-flammable, non-explosive, has no overcharging problems, does not require cooling and has no thermal overload. “The bromine salt ZnBr2 in our battery is used in firefighting,” the company says.
The cost of 1 kWh is 1.8 times lower than the price of 1 kWh in the lithium-ion battery market, the company claims.
At the end of their life, the batteries can be easily discarded, fully recycled and reused as organic compost, minimizing their impact on the environment.
The technology is touted as easily scalable, offering a power range of 120 kW to 1 MW and storage capacity of 500 to 700 kWh.
The system is 6 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 2.6 meters high and weighs 18.9 tons.
The system takes four hours to charge and the same amount of time to discharge. SorbiForce guarantees 5,000 charge-discharge cycles and aims to expand this to 10,000.
“We are currently introducing batteries with 4-hour and 12-hour cycles. That means 4 hours of charging/4 hours of discharging and 12 hours of charging/12 hours of discharging. However, we can make batteries with a lifespan of 30 minutes to 24 hours,” says Serhii Kaminskyi, founder and CEO of SorbiForce. pv magazine Energy storage. “We focus on industrial applications for intraday operations.”
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