Home Improvement Blog: New type of battery answer to world's energy crisis!

The Vanadium redox battery could be the answer to the world's energy crisis. Vanadium's alloying properties have been known for hundreds of years. Most famously when Henry Ford used it in 1908 to make the body of his Model T stronger and lighter. For the same reasons - and also for its heat resistance - it was used to make portable artillery pieces and body armour in the First World War.

But vanadium's history seemingly goes back even further. Indeed, mankind may have been unwittingly exploiting the metal as far back as the 3rd Century BC!

So why are we just hearing about it now?

Vanadium is the 22nd most
abundant element in Earth's crust

Well the main reason is their relatively poor energy-to-volume ratio, and the system complexity in comparison with standard storage batteries. BUT the Vanadium redox battery is an exciting technology because they can be discharged and recharged 20,000 times without much loss of performance compared to the Lithium ion battery, and they are thought to last decades!

What does that mean?

It means its PERFECT for renewable technologies that are producing too much power but with no place to store it! Countries like Hawaii, New Zealand and some states in the U.S are losing a vast amount of power due to no storage space. New Zealand aren't even allowed to use their solar panels at peak times because they are producing too much energy and they are like "Well... what do we do with it?" Oh the irony!

Vanadium redox batteries nevertheless provide the answer to a lot of problems we are now starting to face and will be in the future; as the incredible advancements in solar technology being made even during this year by MIT, various companies (Apple are even putting solar screens in the iPhone 6!) and sole inventors means we are pushing ourselves towards a more renewable energy dependent planet which is great, but where are we going to put it when we have this almost abundant amount of energy, Vanadium Redox Batteries of course!

Photo Credit: BBC Laurence Knight

When are we going to see a change?

According to the BBC the problem Hawaii are facing right now could very well be a problem the whole world will be facing in the next 10 years or 2 world cups and a half from now (how I measure time.) Although some people argue that fossil fuel companies might take advantage of this kind of technology I think that it is needed to make renewable energies more efficient and reliable, we have to think about our future.

Find more on Vanadium Redox Batteries and how they work on this Wikipedia page here

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