The Vanadium Redox Battery/VRB or Flow Battery and its Benefits

The VRB battery, which stands for vanadium redox battery, is a technology which is being described by many as "showing some real promise in stabilizing energy distribution in renewable systems" (well sphere.com). This battery, which is not what we typically think of when we hear the word, will help store and deliver power to the energy grid.

Other methods of storing or creating energy have been used, including hydroelectric energy where water is used to create electricity and then pumped back uphill and into reservoirs during off peak periods. "Another method that has gained some recognition in the past is with compressed air." (well sphere 2008) While these methods may be good ideas, building a huge hydroelectric facility is not going to be cost effective in every area of the country. Batteries as energy storage will still remain in the forefront as the most widely accepted and probably the most cost effective method that is in development up to this point.

The element vanadium, which was discovered in the 19th century and named for the Norse goddess Vanadis (goddess of youth, love, and beauty), was first used in a project with NASA and flow batteries. The flow battery is a simple concept with complex formulations: liquid electrolytes are pumped from external tanks to a cell stack. Each cell stack contains a different elemental form of vanadium/sulfuric acid. Ions are exchanged through the charge/discharge cycle after traveling through a hydrogen-ion polymer membrane. (Wellsphere.org 2008)

In simple English: a flow battery has outer tanks and an inner cell. The flow of the solution (in this case vanadium and sulfuric acid) travels into the cell and interacts with what is there. Ions switch from positive to negative or negative to positive and energy is then produced or stored until needed, as in during peak times.

Reference: http://www.wellsphere.com/green-living-article/vanadium-battery-technology. Retrieved on August 16, 2009.

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• The Economic Goldmine of Energy Storage
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• Selling Extra Wind or Solar Power to the Energy Grid

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