A Massachusetts battery startup has a product that is seemingly a dream come true for the sector.
That's because the Malden-based company bills its pack as being a solution for grid, home, business, and even data center storage with fire-safe and sustainable tech. It fascinatingly leverages common water in the chemistry, according to a news release.
At issue is the need to store intermittent renewable energy from the wind and sun. Lithium-ion packs, like Tesla's Megapack, provide reliable storage. But lithium-ion units carry rare, yet serious, fire risks, detailed by the National Fire Protection Association. They are also reliant on foreign and expensive supply chains for key components.
Alsym Green is touted as a solution on seemingly all fronts.
"Our team is taking on the world's greatest challenge," Alsym officials stated on the team's website.
The battery works much like a lithium-ion pack, with ions that move between two electrodes through an electrolyte. But Alsym replaces toxic flammable materials with benign water and "nonhazardous additives." It's part of an internal structure that avoids conditions that can lead to cataclysmic thermal runaway, when battery cells begin to overheat uncontrollably. The scenario can result in fire.
Importantly, the materials are all available stateside or from reliable trade partners, all per the company.
"This helps reduce pricing and supply volatility that may arise from geopolitical tensions or supply chain disruptions caused by global pandemics or other unforeseen events. It also helps to support the development of battery manufacturing infrastructure in the U.S., E.U., and beyond," Alsym stated on its website.
Alsym Green also checks the major boxes as a long-duration energy storage unit. The battery's complete discharge range is a flexible two to 110 hours. It can recharge fully in less than four hours. The pack's versatility allows customers to manage operations to best meet energy demand, taking advantage of electricity market opportunities.
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What's more, the setup provides up to five days of power for blackout protection, a growing concern as our planet's overheating is linked by NASA experts to increased severe weather risks. The troubling storms can cause mass outages. To that end, the pack can retain 92% of its charge for more than 30 days, all per Alsym.
MIT News reported that Alsym Green packs haven't yet matched the storage capacity per pound of lithium-ion units. But the company is at work on chemistry to achieve that parity.
Sustainably storing renewable energy is a task that has resulted in numerous unique ideas in addition to traditional batteries. Systems that leverage ice, water, and gravity are feasible solutions. It's important to note that big savings can even result from small moves. Simply replacing 40 old light bulbs in your house with LEDs can cut significant air pollution and save you hundreds of dollars a year in power expenses.
At Alsym, CEO Mukesh Chatter said in an Interesting Engineering story that his storage unit is also a good option for manufacturing facilities, citing steel and chemical plants where flammable lithium packs can be a hazard.
"We're highly configurable, and that's important because depending on where you are, you can sometimes run on two cycles a day with solar, and in combination with wind, you could truly get 24/7 electricity," Chatter said in the report.
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