New Sodium, Aluminum Battery Aims to Integrate Renewables for Grid Resiliency

Credit: (Photo by Andrea Starr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

Research teams at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory study how to integrate a utility-scale solar energy and battery storage facility into the grid at a facility near its Richland, Washington, headquarters. Here they monitor and analyze data to evaluate the financial benefits of storing renewable energy and incorporating intermittent renewables onto the grid.

« New Sodium, Aluminum Battery Aims to Integrate Renewables for Grid Resiliency

Credit: (Image by Sara Levine | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

Capturing intermittent renewable energy from solar arrays and wind turbines is the goal of a new energy storage technology that uses the Earth-abundant materials sodium and aluminum.

« New Sodium, Aluminum Battery Aims to Integrate Renewables for Grid Resiliency

Credit: (Diagram by Sara Levine | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

The new sodium-aluminum battery design allows only sodium (depicted as yellow balls) to move through the solid-state electrolyte to charge the battery. Being constructed of inexpensive Earth-abundant materials such as sodium salts and aluminum wool, a scrap product of aluminum manufacturing, is an advantage.

« New Sodium, Aluminum Battery Aims to Integrate Renewables for Grid Resiliency

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