I-Corps: Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries for Small Urban Businesses

I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发能源存储，为家庭、企业和医院提供可靠的不间断电力供应，以及在停电后重新启动电网的能力。电能储存增加了电网资源（风能、太阳能和水力发电等可再生能源）以及传统的核能和化石燃料发电厂。储能带来了长期效益和可靠性，为消费者节省了资金，提高了电网的可靠性和弹性，实现了能源发电的整合，并有助于减少对环境的影响。美国的电网运营商已经确定并承认，通过需求响应，储能对于稳定供需至关重要。钒氧化还原液流电池是实现需求响应的重要元素，在可预见的未来，它将在平衡电网供需方面发挥积极作用。钒氧化还原液流电池有能力集成到配电变电站等公用设施中，在某些情况下，还可以支持传输和其他电力基础设施。与简单地增加传统基础设施相比，将该技术整合到现有的公用事业基础设施中，有可能以更低的安装成本延长这些设施的能力和使用寿命。这个I-Corps项目是基于钒氧化还原液流电池作为储能技术的发展。公用事业通过增加或减少更多的化石燃料燃烧工厂，平衡电力供需，以满足不断变化的电力需求，从而保持有效的电力流动。利用这些额外的植物会产生更多的污染，而且成本高昂。太阳能和风能的市场份额大大增加，现在具有成本竞争力。然而，夜间没有太阳，许多地方的风力资源也不理想。随着太阳能和风能资源的增加，需要电网的灵活性。这种灵活性可以通过“需求响应”来实现，即通过打开或关闭客户的电源来限制电力需求来平衡供需的能力。能源存储使需求响应能够平衡不断变化的电网。钒液流电池的工作原理是在充放电过程中发生可逆的电化学反应。该项目探讨了钒液流电池在开发更可靠、不间断电源方面的要求。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of energy storage to provide reliable uninterrupted power supply to homes, businesses and hospitals along with the ability to restart the grid after a blackout. Electrical energy storage augments grid resources (renewables such as wind, solar and hydroelectric) as well as conventional nuclear and fossil fuel plants. Energy storage creates long-term benefits and reliability, saving consumers money, improving grid reliability and resilience, enabling integration of energy generation sources, and helping reduce environmental impacts. Grid operators in the United States have identified and acknowledged energy storage as important for stabilizing supply and demand through demand response. Vanadium redox flow batteries provide an essential element in enabling demand response to play a positive role in balancing supply and demand on the electric grid into the foreseeable future. Vanadium redox flow batteries have the ability to be integrated into such utility infrastructure as distribution substations and, in certain cases, to support transmission and other electrical infrastructure. Incorporating this technology in existing utility infrastructure has the potential to extend the capabilities and operational lifetimes of these facilities at a much lower installation cost than simply adding more traditional infrastructure.This I-Corps project is based on the development of vanadium redox flow batteries as energy storage technologies. Utilities maintain efficient power flow by balancing power supply and demand to meet the ever-changing electricity demand by adding or subtracting more fossil fuel burning plants. Utilizing these extra plants creates more pollution and is costly. Solar and wind energy have significantly increased their market share and are now cost competitive. However, the sun does not shine at night and in many places wind resources are not ideal. As more solar and wind resources increase, energy grid flexibility is needed. This flexibility can be achieved through “demand response,” i.e., the capability to balance supply and demand by turning power on or off from customers to limit power demand. Energy storage enables demand response to balance the ever-changing grid. Vanadium flow batteries operate by undergoing reversible electrochemical reactions during charge and discharge. This project explores the requirements of vanadium flow batteries in enabling the development of a more reliable, uninterrupted power supply.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.