Materials and cell scale-up for sodium-ion technology for residential energy storage

能源存储是DECC的首要发展领域之一，如果能够建立一个电网规模的电力存储系统来平衡可再生能源的可变输出，则有可能大幅降低电力供应脱碳的成本。住宅储能（RES）系统面临的挑战是提供安全、低成本、长寿命的储能，这些储能可以与可再生能源或“经济”关税相结合。该项目建议通过工业研究扩大钠离子电池技术的规模。钠离子电池在许多方面与目前普遍使用的锂离子电池相似；它们都是可充电电池。使用更便宜和更丰富的钠来代替锂，解决了锂离子技术作为住宅储能解决方案的成本和可持续性问题。该项目将创新阴极材料制造的规模，从几百克到几十公斤，周围的钠离子技术将从几Ah的单个电池扩展到250Wh的模块，适用于4kWh的住宅储能，成本比目前的产品更低。该项目将包括研究了解电池的最佳设计和操作，以及电池管理系统的安全性和寿命。这将是第一个商用住宅储能钠离子模块，并为所有商业合作伙伴从知识产权、材料制造、电池制造和电池组装和分销等方面开辟了重大技术开发的可能性。

Energy storage is one of DECC's top priority areas for development, with the potential to massively cut the cost of decarbonising the electricity supply if a grid-scale electricity storage system to balance the variable output of renewables can be created. The challenge for residential energy storage (RES) systems is in providing safe, low-cost, long-life energy storage which can be coupled with renewable energy sources or 'economy' tariffs. This project proposes a scale-up of sodium-ion battery technology through industrial research. Sodium-ion batteries are analogous in many ways to the lithium-ion batteries that are in common use today; they are both rechargeable batteries. The use of cheaper and more abundant sodium in place of lithium addresses concerns of cost and sustainability of lithium ion technology as a residential energy storage solution. This project would innovate the scale-up of the cathode material manufacture from a few hundred grams to tens of kilograms, the surrounding sodium ion technology will be scaled up from single cells of a few Ah to 250Wh modules suitable for 4kWh residential energy storage at lower cost than current offerings. The project would include studies to understand the best design and operation of the cells and also the battery management system for both safety and longevity. This would be the first commercial residential energy storage sodium ion module and opens up the possibility of significant technology exploitation for all the commercial partners from intellectual property, materials manufacture, cell manufacture and battery assembly and distribution.