09 Sep Vanadium — smoothes out Wind & Solar

I was talking with Brandi yesterday about the perception that Wind & Solar are difficult energy technologies to get to the grid, because they are inconsistent. . . Aha! Vanadium Redox Batteries to the rescue. Invented over 20 years ago, this non-toxic, mineral-based cell super charges, and super recharges, better than all other conventional technologies. It’s already in use at wind farms around the world. See below:

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From a Discover Magazine article (2008) —
“There is a promising solution on the horizon: the Vanadium Redox Flow Battery. The vanadium battery has a marvelous advantage over lithium-ion and most other types of batteries: it can absorb and release huge amounts of electricity at the drop of a hat and do so over and over, making it ideal for smoothing out the flow from wind turbines and solar cells…”

And From Wikipedia —
“The extremely large capacities possible from vanadium redox batteries make them well suited to use in large power storage applications such as helping to average out the production of highly variable generation sources (ie. wind or solar power), or to help generators cope with large surges in demand… Can replace lead-acid batteries and diesel generators…”

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