Overview of Emerging Technologies and Challenges for Large Scale Energy Storage

Energy storage will play a critical in the electrification of the transportation industry and modernization of the power grid infrastructure. Currently, many technologies are investigated, including Li-ion, redox flow, Li and Na sulfur batteries. Li-ion batteries have attracted wide attention for automobile applications, and redox flow, sodium and new sulfur chemistries are under intense development. Significant breakthroughs in performance, cost and safety is needed to meet the requirement of various applications, but no single technology will be able to address all the challenges. This seminar will summarize our recent progress in developing analytical tools to understand the energy storage requirements for balancing service and other applications in different regions in the United States, and the cost and life cycle requirements for such applications. The current status, advantages and limitations of some key technologies will be discussed.  This seminar will also discuss our recent breakthroughs in a new generation of low cost, redox flow batteries that can increase the energy density by several times, and Na batteries that can operate at temperatures at below 100°C.