Clean energy

The case for decentralised power proven after storm power outages

Windy winter weather tends to bring trees down on power lines, cutting off your power supply as many people in Victoria have discovered recently. During the storm that crossed Victoria on 13th February 2024 over 500,000 people lost power and a week later many people in Gippsland and the Dandenong’s are still without power and some have been told it may be some time before their power is restored.

One of the main advantages of decentralised power supplies is that you are not so reliant on things that are happening in the main power grid and can keep a power supply when other areas no longer have one.

There are many flow-on effects when the power grid fails, other than the lack of electricity to power your house or business that may not be immediately obvious if you haven’t experienced extended grid failures before.

When there is no power for many people that also means no water as pumps no longer work.

Now we live in a mainly cashless society when there is no power there is no money flow as ATM’s and electronic transactions are no longer possible. In our area, nearly all the shops had to close for this reason as they couldn’t do any transactions.

In our area also, as there was no power the local petrol station couldn’t operate which meant there was no fuel available for the generators that many people were surviving on, even if they had had the cash to make payments.

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The issue with new battery technologies

ou often hear about new and better battery technologies that are coming on to the market and we often get asked should people wait for these better technologies.

We advise against this for several reasons;

  1. we need to act now to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, not tomorrow or when a better technology becomes available,
  2. any new battery technology takes 5 to 10 years to becoming proven and commercially viable,
  3. many great battery technologies have failed when they have been used in real life applications,
  4. there is no guarantee that current technologies will get cheaper, in fact due to resource limitations and new government regulations regarding safety and recyclability, it is highly likely current technologies will increase in cost substantially,
  5. although early adopters tend to pay a premium price for their equipment the amounts, they save in energy costs often make up for more than any reduced costs in equipment.

There are new technologies coming out all the time and in the next few years some of them are likely to become available for commercial use. However, these are unlikely to be lithium-based batteries. More and more issues are becoming widely known about the difficulties being experienced with lithium-ion batteries, from fires, to lack of recyclability, to less available resources which is resulting in resources being more expensive, to issues with insuring battery installations.

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Stability of SoNick battery – case study.

An installer recently contacted us to talk about the performance of a SoNick battery he had bought 8 years ago.

Originally it was purchased as part of a portable trailer system. The battery was utilised in this capacity for a number of years. It was used to supply power in power outages and at events, as well as being used as a showcase of the SoNick battery and what could be achieved in a portable power system.

*** Note: not all batteries are suitable for use in portable power systems due to the risk of damaging their cells due to trailer movements and due to the risk of fire in case of accident or cell damage.

Due to the intermittent use of this trailer, the battery was often left to go cold between uses then heated up again when needed.

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SoNick the non-flammable battery

If you’re serious about battery safety, one battery stands head and shoulders above all other battery technologies.

It’s the Sodium Nickel (SoNick) salt battery, manufactured by FZSoNick and distributed in Australia by GridEdge.

With increasing demands for battery safety standards, SoNick is a unique product that helps our partners stand out.

The SoNick battery technology was the first and still is one of very few that have UL9540A certification for safety, stating it will not go into thermal runaway, both on a cell and complete module basis. This means no risk of fire or explosion, even in the presence of external fire.

UL9540A certified

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The benefits of molten salt batteries

As we move towards a future that heavily relies on renewable energy sources and sustainable technologies, energy storage solutions play a crucial role. Molten salt batteries, also known as liquid metal batteries, have emerged as a promising option due to their unique characteristics and advantages. They are a type of rechargeable battery that uses molten salts as the electrolyte. Here are some of their benefits:

Enhanced Safety: Molten salt batteries generally have good safety characteristics. Safety needs to be a paramount concern when it comes to energy storage systems. Molten salt batteries excel in this aspect due to their inherent design. These batteries use metal electrodes and a molten salt electrolyte, which eliminates the risk of thermal runaway or explosions associated with some other battery chemistries. The materials used in molten salt batteries are non-flammable and non-toxic, making them inherently safe and reliable. The fact that molten salt batteries use non-flammable and non-toxic salts, further enhances their safety profile.

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