Solar Battery Storage
One of the most important factors to a successful transition to solar energy is solar battery storage. So, I was very excited to read about Cerametec, Inc., a Salt Lake City-based company that is developing solar batteries that allow customers to store energy generated by solar panels for the majority of a 24-hour period, while also “going green,” and boasting amazing efficiency.
What makes the Cerametec solar batteries so special? Well, if you are technical-type person, you may appreciate the fact that they run on a sodium-sulfur mix, which is more “energy intensive” than your typical lead-acid batteries. This allows people who use solar energy as part of a grid-tied system a greater ability to store energy generated by solar panels during off-peak hours and then use the power during other times of the day.
So much to think about with a solar battery
Ceramatec will make a solar battery run at less than 200 degrees F with use of a ceramic membrane between the sodium and sulfur. But the coolest thing (no pun intended) is that solar battery storage allows up to 20 kWh of electricity. The new battery will be ready for testing in less than 2 year and will market for about $2,000 a piece. Observes coolerplanet.com:
“At 20 kilowatt hours – most of an average household’s electricity use per day – they look very promising. American households typically use about 33 kilowatt hours a day, or 1,000 kilowatt hours a month, so the battery’s storage capacity could easily take an energy-conscious household through a typical day, with some caveats (no dishwasher or combined TV/computer operations, for example).”
Many people are hoping that the Ceramatec battery will deliver because it would be an ideal, and less cumbersome, solution to solar energy storage. The most important question is whether you would invest $2,000 for solar battery storage?
What do you think? What would it take? At what price?
Tags: battery tanks for solar energy, ceramatec, going green, solar battery, solar battery storage, solar panels
August 17th, 2010 at 12:48 am
If this battery streamlines the solar energy setup,, then it's worth the 2K.. It would be ideal for a small home if it can keep the charge . I use about 500 KW a month, so this would work. Thought they said it was coming out in 2011, now it's 2012.? I'll check your site for more info. Thanks! msmaryntn
September 12th, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Where is this battery? I have been hearing about this for years now and still I haven’t even seen a tiny bit that has been comercialized. Maybe this is like every other government funded project conducted by ceramatec which turns out to be a giant money pit premised by big promises and excedingly small returns. What a joke!