Tiny Tech 50: Flow Batteries

Today from the world of Tiny Tech:

Over 20% of all electricity in the US is now generated by renewable wind and solar power. That’s impressive, but wind turbines and solar panels are fickle: sometimes they generate more electricity than is needed, and other times none at all. To solve this problem, the excess electricity generated during sunny and breezy periods can be stored in a special kind of battery – known as a flow battery – for later use.

Flow batteries are connected to two big tanks, each of which is filled with water mixed with salts of metals such as vanadium, iron, or chromium. When the liquids are piped into the battery and allowed to flow past one another, electricity is generated. The de-energized liquids can be recharged later when it’s windy or sunny.

For use as part of a power grid, the flow batteries must be able to generate electricity quickly. An important recent discovery is that the electricity generation from the two liquids is really fast if tiny particles called nanocatalysts are added to the flow battery. Awesome!

So, when it comes to using renewable energy … you just need to go with the flow.

Tiny Tech is made possible by the National Science Foundation and WUFT. To learn more about Tiny Tech, go to tinytechradio.org.

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