HOW LEAD-ACID BATTERIES REMAIN VIABLE IN SOLAR USE

The global race to produce enough batteries for energy storage is just starting to pick up. While many battery companies are investing in research, development and manufacturing of lithium chemistry, both newer and more established companies with a long history of lead acid batteries are also making technological progress in terms of material and design to meet the demand.

The biggest advantage of lead acid storage is that it can be installed at a much lower upfront cost — some say 40 to 50 percent — than a lithium-based system. Lower upfront cost means more residential and commercial energy storage systems will come out, which accelerates adoption rates.

However, this lower cost is usually offset by the need for more maintenance and shorter cycle life. Two or more lead-acid batteries may be required in place of every lithium battery in residential or commercial storage systems. Only time, as well as a couple of years of actual lithium performance documentation, will tell us what the real lifetime ratio of lead to lithium will be.

The good news for the acid acid chemistry is the latest progress in building what is known as a carbon-lead acid battery, which reduces the amount of acid needed and the frequency of maintenance, as well as the lifetime of the cycle.

In the same vein,Firstek Battery's premium Series 5000 flooded lead-acid batteries, which are designed for use in homes to store large amounts of power, have a hard, heavy plate structure, a unique dual-tank housing design, and a capacity of more than 7,000 cycles at 20% discharge depth and 5,000 cycles near 50% discharge.

"The addition of firstek' exclusive Advanced NAM nano carbon additive to the negative plate structure of a flooded lead-acid model improves overall charge acceptance and reduced charge temperatures, providing an increase in charge efficiency by 10-15%, requiring a shorter charge time, and an improvement in Partial State of Charge (PSOC) performance,"

Benefits of safety and weight

Also, safety is being improved with a new lead acid battery design, which avoids the risk of a lithium battery fire. "Silicon bi-pole batteries need fewer battery management electronics and fire protection cages. It saves on cost and complexity when you need less electronics to track and report the temperature and health of the battery, 

The weight of the new lead acid batteries is also declining, which is helpful to the installation staff, who might prefer a smaller battery to a smaller one.

"Our Silicon Joule batteries are 40 percent lighter because they replace the heavy lead grid with special treated silicon wafers."

Recycling reduces the cost of substitution

Along with this progress, carbon-lead batteries can be recycled more than 99 per cent economically, in stark contrast to lithium batteries, which are still in their early stages (and the jury is not yet clear how effective they will be). In general, energy storage is a green solution compared to fossil fuels, but materials management is an important part of the overall picture.

"In 2018, global Pb and Li-ion sales were about equal at $35 billion annually, but Pb sales were 4x greater in terms of GWh, so in 2018 Pb was 4x less in terms of $/KWh. Now in 2020 the global Pb battery market was worth about $37.5 billion, with 410 GWh produced. The global Li-ion market was worth $47.5 billion with 230 GWh. That translates into an average price of $91 per kWh for Pb and $206 per kWh for Li-ion, so the difference is now just 2.3 times. "

More specifically, the study suggests that "lead-based batteries will continue to dominate in 2030" for uninterruptible power (UPS) and telecommunications applications. However, "for energy storage systems, by 2030, the preferred technology will be almost entirely lithium-based." The race is on.