The discussion about the chemistry and applications of batteries continues in this episode with Al Warner, Dan Lambert, and The Battery Blarney Duo. They compare flow and lead acid batteries in terms of their reliability and need for maintenance.
They examine the problems with energy-storage batteries, such as a zinc manganese battery, as well as the benefit of nickel zinc batteries in which electrodes interact with electrolytes. They also mention that a hybrid system using both nickel zinc and manganese dioxide batteries might be very efficient, and that if manufacturers collaborate, third-party integrators will find it easy to connect these products together into a cohesive unit.
Tune in to hear about the various codes and standards affecting stationary batteries plus comments about systems integrators and how they can fail when integrating different types of energy storage.
Episode Highlights
06:33 – There are a lot of things about different systems that most people are not aware of and they think, “Oh, fuel cell, that’s the answer to everything.” It’s not. It can never be the answer to everything. A lead acid battery is not going to oxygen starve the environment that’s surrounding it. Fuel cells definitely can do that. A large system can starve the oxygen in the inside of a facility. Lesson is learned the hard way.
15:40 – I’m glad you brought up the idea of the hybrid battery system. Problem is that you end up, for instance, working with two different manufacturers, obviously competing for business, who don’t always want to cooperate as well as they could. So, you end up with a third party having to do it.
24:42 – Integrators are probably the short end of the circuit. You have to have people that are qualified and there seemed to be very few of them. It’s interesting to me that you gain wisdom by knowledge. You gain wisdom by failing. There’s no two ways around it. Experience counts for an awful lot in this game. The powers that be seem to want to push us towards an electrified world without adequate thought, without any experience. It’s up to us in the industry, basically, to educate those that are coming into the industry.
