Murdoch University researchers have come up with a potential solution to one ofsustainable energy’s greatest challenges: power storage for use in non-generation times.
According to project leaders Drs Manickam Minakshi and Danielle Meyrick of Murdoch’sSchool of Chemical and Mathematical Sciences, while the efficiency of wind and solar technologies has improved rapidly, one major problem has remained unsolved.
“The central obstacle facing sustainable energy is unreliability. Wind turbines don’t turn on a still day. Solar doesn’t work at night and can be hampered in the day by cloud, dust or snow coverage,” Dr Minakshi said.
“To provide power at non-generation times, excess energy needs to be stored in batteries, but storage technologies now being considered, such as molten salt or molten sulfur, work at high temperatures, making them expensive and impractical.”
“Our water-based sodium-ion battery has shown excellent potential for affordable, low-temperature storage.”
Dr Minakshi said he was drawn to sodium because its chemical properties were similar to lithium, the element that powers most portable electronic devices.