Tag: EnergyStorage

The case for decentralised power proven after storm power outages

Posted on by Linda

Windy winter weather tends to bring trees down on power lines, cutting off your power supply as many people in Victoria have discovered recently. During the storm that crossed Victoria on 13th February 2024 over 500,000 people lost power and a week later many people in Gippsland and the Dandenong’s are still without power and some have been told it may be some time before their power is restored.

One of the main advantages of decentralised power supplies is that you are not so reliant on things that are happening in the main power grid and can keep a power supply when other areas no longer have one.

There are many flow-on effects when the power grid fails, other than the lack of electricity to power your house or business that may not be immediately obvious if you haven’t experienced extended grid failures before.

When there is no power for many people that also means no water as pumps no longer work.

Now we live in a mainly cashless society when there is no power there is no money flow as ATM’s and electronic transactions are no longer possible. In our area, nearly all the shops had to close for this reason as they couldn’t do any transactions.

In our area also, as there was no power the local petrol station couldn’t operate which meant there was no fuel available for the generators that many people were surviving on, even if they had had the cash to make payments.

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The issue with new battery technologies

Posted on by Linda

You often hear about new and better battery technologies that are coming on to the market and we often get asked should people wait for these better technologies.

We advise against this for several reasons;

  1. we need to act now to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, not tomorrow or when a better technology becomes available,
  2. any new battery technology takes 5 to 10 years to becoming proven and commercially viable,
  3. many great battery technologies have failed when they have been used in real life applications,
  4. there is no guarantee that current technologies will get cheaper, in fact due to resource limitations and new government regulations regarding safety and recyclability, it is highly likely current technologies will increase in cost substantially,
  5. although early adopters tend to pay a premium price for their equipment the amounts, they save in energy costs often make up for more than any reduced costs in equipment.

There are new technologies coming out all the time and in the next few years some of them are likely to become available for commercial use. However, these are unlikely to be lithium-based batteries. More and more issues are becoming widely known about the difficulties being experienced with lithium-ion batteries, from fires, to lack of recyclability, to less available resources which is resulting in resources being more expensive, to issues with insuring battery installations.

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Protect yourself and prepare for power outages in coming bushfire season

Posted on by Linda

As the current summer season approaches in Australia, we are receiving more warnings of a possibly severe bushfire season. With memories of the disasters of 2019 – 2020 many people still remember being without power for days and weeks due to power lines being brought down and the dangers of reconnecting the power grid.

This threat of bushfire is becoming an increasing and more serious and long-lasting reality every year, both in Australia and overseas.

Power supply companies are turning off power earlier, particularly in areas with above ground powerlines, when there is a threat of bushfires, to prevent their infrastructure causing more fires.

Particularly in rural areas, loss of power also affects access to water, as electric water pumps no longer work. This can be devasting to livestock as well as humans and often means there is no longer access to water to fight fires.

With the interconnectedness of our current power supply this also means that a problem in one area can affect power supply in multiple other areas that may have not been affected by the original bushfire.

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SoNick – the Cradle to Grave certified battery

Posted on by Linda

A crucial part of our new energy transition is the usage of batteries to store energy, either as backup power for when the grid goes down or to reduce energy costs, to stabilize the grid or in EV’s. This transition will involve trade-offs and by adhering to ESG principles companies can make sure their governance covers factors that make sure that the net result of this transition is positive from the environment and social angles.

Many battery manufacturing companies claim their batteries will be good for the environment, however they fail many of the ESG markers.

One way to ensure batteries or indeed any other product will be good for the environment overall is to make sure that all parts of a products life from a cradle to grave or life cycle assessment perspective are taken into account.

This includes taking into account;

  • Raw Material Extraction
  • Manufacturing
  • Internal and external production processes
  • Transportation
  • Life usage
  • End-of-Life disposal
  • System Boundary to ensure all relevant stages of the lifecycle are included
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SoNick battery replaces lead acid batteries in off-grid installation – case study.

Posted on by Linda

People install battery systems for many reasons and likewise people choose battery technologies for various reasons.

For many years people have used lead acid batteries as a known battery technology, particularly in off grid installations. A battery of choice has often been used Telecom batteries which are replaced regularly from telecom installations that need guaranteed UPS (uninterrupted power supply) capabilities. As these batteries are often sold at a vastly reduced cost it is economical for off-grid households to add a large number of batteries to an off-grid system to allow for reduced capacity of the batteries.

Unfortunately, for lead acid battery systems the battery system operates at the capacity of the weakest battery so you are unable to use new lead acid batteries in older systems and would need to replace the whole bank of batteries when more capacity is needed.

Lead acid batteries are well known for having a “falling off the cliff reputation” and degrading very suddenly and quickly, often with no warning. This happens particularly often in cold or hot weather. Coincidentally this is often when batteries are needed the most for heating and cooling. At the same time, most people who live off grid have learnt to manage their electricity usage to only use what is available and to use a generator when batteries are unavailable.

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Stability of SoNick battery – case study.

Posted on by Linda

An installer recently contacted us to talk about the performance of a SoNick battery he had bought 8 years ago.

Originally it was purchased as part of a portable trailer system. The battery was utilised in this capacity for a number of years. It was used to supply power in power outages and at events, as well as being used as a showcase of the SoNick battery and what could be achieved in a portable power system.

*** Note: not all batteries are suitable for use in portable power systems due to the risk of damaging their cells due to trailer movements and due to the risk of fire in case of accident or cell damage.

Due to the intermittent use of this trailer, the battery was often left to go cold between uses then heated up again when needed.

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The benefits of molten salt batteries

Posted on by Linda

As we move towards a future that heavily relies on renewable energy sources and sustainable technologies, energy storage solutions play a crucial role. Molten salt batteries, also known as liquid metal batteries, have emerged as a promising option due to their unique characteristics and advantages. They are a type of rechargeable battery that uses molten salts as the electrolyte. Here are some of their benefits:

Enhanced Safety: Molten salt batteries generally have good safety characteristics. Safety needs to be a paramount concern when it comes to energy storage systems. Molten salt batteries excel in this aspect due to their inherent design. These batteries use metal electrodes and a molten salt electrolyte, which eliminates the risk of thermal runaway or explosions associated with some other battery chemistries. The materials used in molten salt batteries are non-flammable and non-toxic, making them inherently safe and reliable. The fact that molten salt batteries use non-flammable and non-toxic salts, further enhances their safety profile.

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Radial Renewable Energy Park at Yarram Sawmill

Posted on by Linda

GridEdge is currently involved in a project to create a Renewable Energy Park at the Radial Timbers Sawmill in Yarram.

The project will establish a “Bioenergy Cell” that incorporates the GridEdge SoNick Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and The Earth Systems Charmaker Pyrolysis Unit and solar installations.

Stage 1 of the Renewable Energy will be the installation of 2 installations of 100kW solar & 90 kWh battery storage on each of the 2 mills at Radial timber.

The battery installations are using 4 x 620V SoNick batteries in a SoNick Zebra container. Each battery installation is supported by an ELPower 100 KW PCS (power conditioning system).

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SoNick – the ESG battery

Posted on by Linda

ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) is a term that is often used by ethical investors to evaluate a company’s sustainable and ethical performance when they are investigating the long term investability of a company.

A crucial part of our new energy transition is the usage of batteries to store energy, either as backup power, to stabilize the grid or in EV’s. This transition will involve trade-offs and by adhering to ESG principles companies can make sure their governance covers factors that make sure that the net result of this transition is positive from the environment and social angles.

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You Must Do your Homework before purchasing energy storage batteries

Posted on by Linda

One of the biggest problems with the efforts to use renewable energy to produce large amounts of the energy consumed on a daily basis has been its inability to reliably supply power at the times it is most needed. This can and will be addressed more commonly in the future with the installation of battery systems that allow households and businesses to store renewable energy for use in peak periods.

This avoids the need to use the power when you are buying it from the grid at a much higher cost.

With an energy storage battery you can utilise the majority of the output of your solar system and minimise these expensive evening electricity rates.

This is definitely a market that is set to thrive in 2023 and following years, however not all batteries are the same.  Most battery suppliers won’t tell you the downside of their batteries and will only tell you the things that are most likely to sell their batteries, so you need to ask questions and compare batteries.

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