…Redwood believes that by 2030, end-of-life batteries could supply more than 50 percent of the entire energy storage market. Instead of grinding up used batteries to reclaim the critical materials inside, put them to work storing electricity. There have been many experiments done that re-purpose used EV batteries which no longer can supply enough power to meet the need for rapid acceleration in an EV but still have up to 80 percent of their original energy storage capacity available…
…Traditional energy storage systems are high density and require heavy-duty cooling. To avoid this, Redwood’s team opted for an open-air, low-density system mounted on above-ground cable trays.
Spreading packs out in the open air helps avoid the need for active refrigeration, and stripping away moving parts like fans and filters minimizes potential reliability failures. Keeping the wiring above ground and limiting the size of each modular component minimizes the need for large equipment. As Sun explained, the result is a storage system that is faster to build, easier to inspect after storms, and cheaper to keep running over time…
Nissan proposed to make a street lamp with a used car battery module in the base, so each lamp can hold 10 kWh distributed neatly all around the city
The idea is not bad, but also a testament to the batteries problem. The current technology in them dies too fast if this could be a viable solution.
Nice for the current state of reality, but hopefully batteries are better in the future.
It would be super easy to make it modular so the batteries can be swapped when they reach end of life. A well maintained lithium cell can last decades though if it is charged and discharged at relatively low rate.
Nice, especially with a solar panel at the top. But street lamps near roads are prone to accidents, and I’m sure a big block of Li-Ion in the base would make these way more risky.
Not having read the article, I wonder if building an elevated array of photovoltaic panels over the batteries would make sense by shading them from the sun, giving more passive help with heat? A simple roof would be cheaper but solar panels would mean the site is also producing electricity, not just storing it.
They should make “grid modules” like that out of shipping containers - racks of batteries inside with solar panels on the roof. Maybe the panels could be on swing-out hinges to make them able to stow away more compactly for transport on top, and then fold out for more surface area after the module is installed on site
The point of going low density is to reduce cooling requirements. Cramming them into a shipping container is the exact opposite of that.
I was assuming the walls would be removed, or not really be a shipping container but a steel frame that fit the dimensions and has the right connectors.
You can put louvered vents on a container.
Well that’s where they have to put them, because I said so. We are going to stack those fuckin’ containers FIFTEEN HIGH! It doesn’t matter, because we will have fans and vents in the doors.
And it is an option. It’s just completely orthogonal to what is being discussed here.
They do this for festivals and construction sites and such in conjunction with the typically fossils generators nowadays. Not everywhere but it definitely exists. Exactly like described: Shipping container, batteries and inverter inside, 4 legs, and 2 Shipping container long solar arrays mounted to a frame. Set the container down anchor the legs put the panel frames up connect some wires and your ready to go.
I’m pretty sure you could just buy that too if you wanted a head start on your off grid cabin.
Why does CleanTechnica have a disclaimer saying its articles are for “entertainment only”?
To not get sued, if there is an error which causes harm, I assume?
It seems free for CleanTechnica to include the disclaimer, so I guess why not have the disclaimer?
it’s clearly an ad for that redwood company
Volts had a good podcast about this: https://www.volts.wtf/p/can-second-life-ev-batteries-work
Neat!
