<Snip>
It not only allows the batteries to be used in much smaller appliances, including cars, computers and mobile phones, but is also aimed at significantly out-competing current lithium-ion technology in terms of charging/discharging speeds, safety, durability and price.
According to Gelion, it has got the charge time for the battery down to just a few minutes, while its efficiency is at 90 per cent, which is higher than in your mobile phone. It also has a longer lifetime and is cheaper than lithium, and the gel is made out of a fire-retardant material.
But the initial target market for Gelion’s batteries is for storage in buildings – both residential and commercial.
As Catalyst explains, being gel-based, the batteries are “bendy” – a feature that has caught the attention of the building industry – including big name players like Lend Lease, who are picturing a future where flat-pack zinc-bromine batteries could be included in the very fabric of buildings.
“We’re thinking about things like working with Professor Maschmeyer to use prefabricated wall segments, for example, as, effectively, battery storage or power storage facilities,” said Lend Lease CEO Steven McCann.
“So imagine that in a large scale and the impact that will have on the emissions from the built space, which is a very significant impact on the environment.”
Professor Maschmeyer explains further: “The idea is to build houses with batteries inherently included as part of their structure, ready to take advantage of rapidly improving, solar energy technology and also to serve as a buffer for the grid, enabling an ever greater share of renewables to be connected, while grid stability is maintained.”
<Snip>
