Batteries
Ìý
Batteries
Modern energy systems increasingly rely on clean electricity generation from sources like solar and wind. These sources produce power when conditions are favorable, such as sunny days and windy periods, which doesn't always align with when electricity is needed most. This intermittency is a solvable engineering challenge. Energy storage is the key to bridging this gap, allowing us to capture electricity when it's abundant and deploy it when demand is high. This creates a more stable, reliable, and cost-effective grid.
Battery storage technology enables this flexibility at multiple scales. At the grid level, large battery installations can store excess electricity during low-demand periods and release it during peak hours, reducing the need for expensive backup generation and helping stabilize electricity prices. For individual users, batteries paired with rooftop solar allow households and businesses to store their own power, reducing electricity bills and providing backup power during outages. Electric vehicles function as mobile energy storage, offering dramatic improvements in efficiency, converting over 90% of stored energy into motion compared to 20-30% for gasoline engines, while reducing operating costs for drivers.
RASEI researchers are advancing battery technology on multiple fronts: developing systems based on more abundant and sustainable materials, exploring redox flow batteries for large-scale grid storage, improving battery performance and lifespan, and identifying pathways to accelerate electric vehicle adoption. Our work addresses both the technical challenges of next-generation batteries and the practical barriers to their widespread deployment.