The latest type of flow battery, located at Pullman (Washington) store energy in tanks filled with liquids and has the potential to be cheaper than their conventional solid counterparts and more adaptable to the needs of electrical grids. The Pullman flow installation, made up of big white boxes stores more than enough energy to run four average homes for a month.
Although the installation holds only a fraction of the power the grid will require, it is introducing a new generation of energy-storage technology. Existing batteries such as lithium ion and lead acid do not provide the necessary combination of long-term energy storage and rapid delivery of energy.
Flow batteries could provide an alternative. They can store energy for a long time and provide it quickly when needed. They are liquid-based, so safer than conventional batteries. Because the energy-storing liquids are kept in external tanks, changing their storage capacity is relatively simple. Most importantly, if researchers can develop the right combination of chemistries, flow batteries could be much less expensive over their lifetime than existing batteries.
For more information you can read the whole article in Nature.
