Hi group!
I can't recall any discussion of the vanadium redox flow battery here.
In short, it's a battery that utilises two different oxidation states
of vanadium in solution, It has a capacity that's determined only by
the amount of electrolyte in storage tanks. It seems that this kind of
battery really solves the problems with solar power only being
available during sunny hours, and wind power availaility only on windy
days.
The Vanadium Redox Battery was invented at the University of New
South Wales, and you can read about it on their site:
http://www.vrb.unsw.edu.au/
There's also a Wikipedia article about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanadium_redox_battery
From the Wikipedia article I quote what they say about current and
planned installations of such batteries. It gives an idea about the
possible scale of such installations:
<quote>
Currently installed vanadium batteries include:
* A 1.5MW UPS system in a semiconductor fabrication plant in Japan
* A 275 kW output balancer in use on a wind power project in the
Tomari Wind Hills of Hokkaido
* A 200 kW, 800kWh output leveler in use at the Huxley Hill Wind
Farm on King Island, Tasmania
* A 250 kW, 2MWh load leveler in use at Castle Valley, Utah
* A 12 MWh flow battery is also to be installed at the Sorne Hill
wind farm, Donegal, Ireland [6].
<end quote>
By the existence of this kind of batteries, it seems to me that the
old arguments that wind power and solar only will be available when
the sun ****nes or the wind blows, is no longer a valid argument and
can no longer be taken seriously.
But that's just my opinion. What do you guys think?
S.
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