6F22 battery

6F22 battery supply power in remote areas

"If you look at a map of the Earth at night, you'll see where it's darkest, and that's in Africa, Asia and developing countries," said Soon-Shiong, who is also the owner of the Los Angeles Times. "It's critical to get costs down and compete with fossil fuels." Companies are working to develop alternatives to the lithium-ion or lead-acid batteries typically used for energy storage, aiming to create a cheaper, more environmentally friendly product. NantEnergy says its zinc-air battery system can provide energy for $100 per kilowatt-hour. "Today, the only battery in that price range is the lead-acid battery," said Ramkumar Krishnan, chief technology officer at NantEnergy.

In contrast, lithium-ion battery prices vary, but are typically between $300 and $500 per kilowatt-hour, according to the Energy Storage Association. Companies such as Tesla have been working to get battery prices down to the $100 to $200 per kilowatt-hour range.

"If this is true, it's fantastic," Jay Whitacre, director of Carnegie Mellon University's Scott Institute for Energy Innovation, said of NantEnergy's efforts. "If these guys are even close to this $100 per kilowatt-hour price point, it's exciting and disruptive. If you can do that, what you end up with is a very economical technology that can be used in a lot of ways."

Whitacre said he would like to see data on how the battery evaluates the company's performance impact. "It's not just how much it costs when you buy it, but how long it lasts," Whitacre added. "I have no reason to think it won't work, but I also need to see some evidence to support these claims. Special claims require special support."

Krishnan did not immediately provide battery performance data to support NantEnergy's. The company is deploying batteries to remote villages to build "microgrids," localized power sources that distribute energy to homes, communities or businesses without being connected to a traditional utility's grid. Microgrids are powered by solar panels that capture solar energy when the sun shines. Electricity from solar panels is used to separate zinc oxide into zinc and oxygen, and the zinc produced in the process stores energy that can be used when it's dark or cloudy. The energy in the zinc can combine with air to release electricity. The batteries are rechargeable and can be charged for days, Krishnan said. They've gone through thousands of cycles over the course of several years, he said.

By comparison, lithium-ion batteries can last thousands of cycles, with an average lifespan of more than 10 years, said Venkat Srinivasan, director of the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Sciences at Argonne National Laboratory. Krishnan acknowledged that even on a global scale, the power NantEnergy currently provides is small compared to the scale of lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries. NantEnergy has installed 55 megawatt-hours of storage, he said, while about 10 gigawatt-hours of energy storage has been deployed worldwide.

Duke Energy is using one of NantEnergy's storage systems to power communications towers for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Authority, said Randy Wheeless, a spokesman for Duke Energy. Previously, two dozen poles and lines served customers, and because of the remote location, repairing outages was expensive and time-consuming, Wheeless said. The microgrid concept allows Duke to disconnect customers from the grid.

Utilities across the U.S. are deploying energy storage systems as part of their infrastructure, often to capture clean but volatile renewable energy generated by the sun and wind. Special bases and small communities often use lithium-ion batteries, especially to power microgrids on islands or in remote areas, said Jason Burwen, vice president of the Energy Storage Association.

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