renewables. While they all have their benefits and disadvantages to the other, essentially two chemistries have the most important role in renewable energy storage today.
Lead-Acid
This technology was invented in 1859 by French physicist Gaston Plante and is the oldest type of rechargeable battery in existence. It wasn’t until the 1970’s when valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) was invented. Aside from improvements in manufacturing and the introduction of VRLA, there have been no other turning points in the technology evolution of lead-acid.
Figure 1 - VRLA Led-Acid Battery Construction
(Courtesy: EuroBat)
There are all types of shapes and sizes in the technology, but in general, lead-acid can be divided into four different applications of use:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Of these four different applications, there are three different lead-acid technologies called Flooded Lead-Acid (FLA), Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid Absorbed Glass Mat (VRLA-AGM) and Valve-Regulated Lead-Acid Gel (VRLA-Gel).
These batteries provide the best value for power per kilowatt hour. Also a great benefit of the lead-acid batteries is recyclability. 97 percent of a lead-acid battery is recycled to be used in other products. It represents one of the most frequently recycled products in the world.
Energy Storage eFeature | January 2015