Zinc-air batteries have attracted much attention and received revived research efforts recently due to their high energy density, which makes them a promising candidate for emerging mobile and electronic applications. Besides their high energy density, they also demonstrate other desirable characteristics, such as abundant raw materials, environmental friendliness, safety, and low cost. Here, the reaction mechanism of electrically rechargeable zinc-air batteries is discussed, different battery configurations are compared, and an in depth discussion is offered of the major issues that affect individual cellular components, along with respective strategies to alleviate these issues to enhance battery performance. Additionally, a section dedicated to battery-testing techniques and corresponding recommendations for best practices are included. Finally, a general perspective on the current limitations, recent application-targeted developments, and recommended future research directions to prolong the lifespan of electrically rechargeable zinc-air batteries is provided.

Electrically Rechargeable Zinc–Air Batteries: Progress, Challenges, and Perspectives

Electrical energy storage is expected to be important for decarbonizing personal transport and enabling highly renewable electricity systems. This study analyses data on 11 storage technologies, constructing experience curves to project future prices, and explores feasibl…

The future cost of electrical energy storage based on experience rates

Battery energy storage systems have gained increasing interest for serving grid support in various application tasks. In particular, systems based on lithium-ion batteries have evolved rapidly with a wide range of cell technologies and system architectures available on the market. On the application side, different tasks for storage deployment demand distinct properties of the storage system. This review aims to serve as a guideline for best choice of battery technology, system design and operation for lithium-ion based storage systems to match a specific system application. Starting with an overview to lithium-ion battery technologies and their characteristics with respect to performance and aging, the storage system design is analyzed in detail based on an evaluation of real-world projects. Typical storage system applications are grouped and classified with respect to the challenges posed to the battery system. Publicly available modeling tools for technical and economic analysis are presented. A brief analysis of optimization approaches aims to point out challenges and potential solution techniques for system sizing, positioning and dispatch operation. For all areas reviewed herein, expected improvements and possible future developments are highlighted. In order to extract the full potential of stationary battery storage systems and to enable increased profitability of systems, future research should aim to a holistic system level approach combining not only performance tuning on a battery cell level and careful analysis of the application requirements, but also consider a proper selection of storage sub-components as well as an optimized system operation strategy.

https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/12/2107/pdf

Lithium-Ion Battery Storage for the Grid—A Review of Stationary Battery Storage System Design Tailored for Applications in Modern Power Grids

As more renewable energy is developed, energy storage is increasingly important and attractive, especially grid-scale electrical energy storage; hence, finding and implementing cost-effective and sustainable energy storage and conversion systems is vital. Batteries of various types and sizes are considered one of the most suitable approaches to store energy and extensive research exists for different technologies and applications of batteries; however, environmental impacts of large-scale battery use remain a major challenge that requires further study. In this paper, batteries from various aspects including design features, advantages, disadvantages, and environmental impacts are assessed. This review reaffirms that batteries are efficient, convenient, reliable and easy-to-use energy storage systems (ESSs). It also confirms that battery shelf life and use life are limited; a large amount and wide range of raw materials, including metals and non-metals, are used to produce batteries; and, the battery industry can generate considerable amounts of environmental pollutants (e.g., hazardous waste, greenhouse gas emissions and toxic gases) during different processes such as mining, manufacturing, use, transportation, collection, storage, treatment, disposal and recycling. Battery use at a large scale or grid-scale (>50 MW), which is widely anticipated, will have significant social and environmental impacts; hence, it must be compared carefully with alternatives in terms of sustainability, while focusing on research to quantify externalities and reduce risk. Alternatives such as pumped hydro and compressed air energy storage must be encouraged because of their low environmental impact compared to different types of batteries.

Study of energy storage systems and environmental challenges of batteries

https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/22670/1/FullText.pdf

Levelized cost of electricity for solar photovoltaic and electrical energy storage

Battery storage is generally considered an effective means for reducing the intermittency of electricity generated by solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. However, currently it remains unclear when and under which conditions battery storage can be profitably operated in residential PV systems without policy support. Based on a review of previous studies that have examined the economics of integrated PV-battery systems, in this paper we devise a simulation model that investigates the economic viability of battery storage for residential PV in Germany under eight different electricity price scenarios from 2013 to 2022. In contrast to previous forward-looking studies, we assume that no premium is paid for solar photovoltaic power and/or self-consumed electricity. Additionally, we run the model with a large number of different PV and storage capacities to determine the economically optimal configuration in terms of system size. We find that already in 2013 investments in storage solutions were economically viable for small PV systems. Given the assumptions of our model, the optimal size of both residential PV systems and battery storage rises significantly in the future. Higher electricity retail prices, lower electricity wholesale prices or limited access to the electricity wholesale market add to the profitability of storage. We conclude that additional policy incentives to foster investments in battery storage for residential PV in Germany will only be necessary in the short run. At the same time, the impending profitability of integrated PV-storage systems is likely to further spur the ongoing trend toward distributed electricity generation with major implications for the electricity sector.

/pdf/the-economic-viability-of-battery-storage-for-residential-27sda918if.pdf

Jonas Volland

Papers

The economic viability of battery storage for residential solar photovoltaic systems - A review and a simulation model