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0 pointsworik10mo ago0 comments

Where are the flow batteries? (fuel cells)

Lithium ion batteries are light with a high energy density, so are great for cars.

Flow batteries have a low energy density, but increasing the duration means a bigger tank, and the cost of bigger tanks increases as a function of the cube root (?) of their volume Flow batteries are well over a century old, but I have been reading about improvements over the last two decades. Where are they?

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ViewTrick100210mo ago

Having trouble staying ahead of the enormous monster that is the lithium battery industry which through sheer scale are lowering the costs allowing it to break into one market after another.

It is the good old: Good enough beats theoretically perfect.

Calwestjobs10mo ago

flow batteries are "controlled" by US patents. solar + batteries are not limited in bad way by US companies grip on patents.

china makes all panels, asia is making all batteries. so US utilities / energy providers can not have harmful grip on PV + batteries.

US utilities / energy providers want to have docile customer who only pays every month. they do not want to invest money into grid and have customer not only demand but also supply grid. because they do not understand how to benefit from that. they can, it is just mental limit for them.

utilities / energy providers were too lazy to think about proper decentralized grid so every participant in us grid will suffer more because of that.

this will be flagged as conspiracy, be cause it is conspiracy, conspiracy against US citizen by US companies / US interests"

worikOP10mo ago

I was wondering about the patents. But I think they must be close to expiring

But flow batteries can be made with century old technology, so it cannot be the whole answer.

It is hard to tell the difference of a "confluence of interests" from a "conspiracy". Perhaps it is a distinction without a difference.

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