Lithium ion batteries are a phenomenal invention, and it is quite true that they have changed the world. Their ability to to power cars and lorries and a whole host of other movable gadgets is highly impressive.
However there are a whole range of situations where these are probably not the best solutions for energy storage. Lithium ion batteries are relatively expensive, need careful controlling of heat and cold and I made from limited resources that often come from parts of the world that are are having unrest.
Flow batteries work rather differently. As the name suggests, the system consists of two tanks and generates its charge and discharge by moving the chemicals between the two. They have very few disadvantages apart from the extra space they need.one of the main advantages particularly for house battery storage is the fact that they lose little to no capacity over decades. The company creating leads batteries have also calculated that they take 37% less carbon dioxide emissions to create.
We will have to watch the of are market of flow batteries to see what happens. they are unlikely to ever replaced lithium-ion batteries in cars and other moving objects. However in in home batteries they make a great deal of sense, and it seems a good thing that there is finally some competition in this space.
