non-toxicbattery

Advantages of SoNick battery for installations

Below is a summary of some of the differences between the SoNick battery and other battery technologies.

SoNick will not catch fire

The SoNick battery cannot catch fire or explode. It is the only chemistry UL9540A certified for safety from thermal runaway. This means no risk of fire or explosion, even in the presence of external fire.

All lithium-ion batteries have the potential to catch fire. Depending on the particular lithium-ion technology and safety features included with the battery, the ignition point may change, i.e. the ignition point for lithium ion phosphate is higher than that for lithium manganese cobalt.

If a battery installation is situated next to a building and the battery catches fire it is quite possible for the whole building to be burnt as a result of the difficulties associated with extinguishing lithium-ion fires. Also, when lithium batteries catch fire toxic fumes are given off.

SoNick capacity doesn’t degrade over service life

The SoNick battery doesn’t degrade over its service life. After 10 years you should still be operating at your original capacity.

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Electric bus battery explosion fires

As the world moves towards electrifying the transport system with the utilisation of electric cars, scooters, busses, trains etc. we need to make sure we take into account the inherent dangers of lithium-ion batteries.

It is not uncommon for lithium-ion batteries to catch fire while charging whether they are in phones, computers, work tools, house batteries or electric vehicles. There are many instances of houses and businesses being burnt due to these fires.

One of the issues with lithium-ion battery fires is the temperatures the fire will quickly get to (excess of 1000oC) and the speed with which the fire will spread to anything adjoining it. The biggest issue is that fire brigades are unable to easily extinguish a lithium-ion battery fire. All they can really do is protect surrounding assets to prevent the fire spreading.

6 buses destroyed in UK 230522 – 2 were electric – https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10842785/Bus-explodes-Potters-Bar-bus-garage-engulfed-flames-six-vehicles-damaged-fire.html. 2 electric and 4 non-electric busses were destroyed. Believed to have started in one lithium-ion battery exploding while being charged. Fire quickly destroyed that bus and spread to adjoining busses and busses were alight within minutes when firemen arrived. Plumes of toxic smoke could be seen 18 kilometres away. Onlookers likened the ‘unbelievable noise’ to that of an explosion. There were no reported injuries.

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Medical Centre – Commercial Case Study using SoNick batteries

The medical centre was to be refurbished and part of the upgrade was to install a PV system with battery storage. The difficulty was allocating the space for battery storage that was safe for patients as well as staff. As is usual in a medical centre space is a premium and is used for medical related purposes as a priority.

A space was identified under the stairwell as the only realistic place to house the batteries and inverters. This limited the type of battery storage due to both space and safety requirements.

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Off grid energy usage

 

There are many reasons why people live off the main electricity grid supply. They may live in remote areas where it is not economically feasible to connect to the electricity grid. Usually these communities have relied on diesel generators.

It may be a lifestyle choice where people want to be self-sufficient and take control of their own energy usage.

People that live at the end of electricity supply lines or Swer lines may have a lot of power outages and find it is actually more stable and economical to be off-grid or part of a local mini grid.

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NASA robot catches fire

On June 14, 2016, four researchers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory were preparing to ship a waist-high, ape-like robot named RoboSimian off-site. The robot had been built to rescue people from dangerous situations that were to difficult for human rescuers. The scientists swapped one lithium-ion battery for a fresh one, then left for lunch to let the new power supply charge.

 

 

Unfortunately, the new lithium ion battery  malfunctioned and went into thermal runaway. Luckily the researchers were no longer in close proximity to the robot so no-one was hurt, although NASA have said there have been a number of these close calls.

A number of attempts were made to put out the fire but eventually the robot was wheeled outside and allowed to burn itself out.

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