新兴电池技术正成为能源行业焦点

锂离子电池技术再度成为年度“可再生能源节”(renewable energy festival)中最受瞩目的关键。锂电池正逐渐从电子装置的电力来源，转而成为混合动力车所采用的一项储能技术。 事实上，在这场“中西部可再生能源协会”(Midwest Renewable Energy Association)的专家们齐聚的活动中，专家们表示，储存技术已然成为推动可再生能源过程中的“圣杯”。虽然大部分的重点都集中在锂离子电池技术 最新的工程技术创新上，但能源顾问暨 RightHand Engineering 创办人Randy Richmond指出，现在，藉由这类展会，让消费者了解还有什么要做，以及他们能够做什么，已经开始激荡出草根型的“个人电源”开发运动了。 “对一般使用者和工程师来说，创新可能有着截然不同的意义，”Richmond说。因此，最大的创新或许会来自于像中国制造的锂电池一样的可用产品。“这也是一种创新，因为我可以同时获得电池，以及很便宜的价格。” 今天，我们可以看到很多像磷酸锂铁化学电池这类产品，“但这些设备必须应用在目前还不普及的家用可再生能源系统中，”Richmond说。 “我认为家用可再生能源系统必然会到来，但包括我和厂商在内，现在才刚刚开始去构思这类产品。” 专家预测，针对混合动力车等可再生能源应用的锂电池技术，仍需要几年时间来推动商业化。最主要原因是目前铅酸电池仍居市场主流，以及投资锂电池技术所需的高昂前期投资成本。 “可能要到三年后，我们才会看到真正能应用到这些新兴电池技术的设备出现，”Richmond说。“当然，从现在起，未来三年内电池技术仍将不断提升，届时我们可能会看到比现在更加先进的技术。” 目前主要的新兴技术包括锂气(lithium air)和碳奈米管技术。后者可以结合使用不同的化学电池。“它可能会将今天的锂离子电池容量提升三倍，”Richmond预测，但新的问题也可能随之产生，像是需要新的充电控制设备等。 Richmond 的小型公司展示了将2001年份GMC卡车改装成电动车以后，能够从投资在新兴电池技术上所获得的潜在回报。他拿掉了卡车的铅酸电池，换上了由48个 3.3V磷酸锂铁(lithium iron phosphate)电池组成的电池包，放置在卡车底部。他大约投资了12,000美元，但卡车的可行驶距离和速度都倍增。 但对所有电池来说，充电都是一大问题。因此，Richmond在电池管理系统方面额外投资了3,200美元，以避免电池过度使用或处在未充电状态。 而像是从内燃机引擎转换到电动车等应用，则为新兴电池技术展现出更可行的商业化前景，然而，可再生能源能否满足未来美国的能源需求？上周美国可再生能源实验室(National Renewable Energy Lab)公布一项调查，该调查预测，目前的可再生能源来源在结合更多弹性的电力网格后，将可望在2050年为美国提供80%的所需电力。 该调查指出，达到此一目标的关键技术，就在于改善“网格储存”(grid storage)。 本文授权编译自EE Times，版权所有，谢绝转载 编译： Joy Teng 本文下一页：参考英文原文：Emerging battery techs slowly entering mainstream ，by George Leopold

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{pagination} Emerging battery techs slowly entering mainstream George Leopold CUSTER, Wis. – One of the stars of the annual renewable energy festival was lithium-ion battery technology, which is slowly making the transition from a power source for electronic devices to the primary power storage technology for hybrid vehicles and low-maintenance backup power at remote sites like cell towers. Indeed, experts at the Midwest Renewable Energy Association’s gathering here stressed that storage technology has emerged as the “Holy Grail” of the renewable energy movement. While much of the focus has been on the latest engineering innovations in lithium-ion battery technology, the grassroots “personal power” movement symbolized by energy fairs like this one has more to do with what consumers can get their hands on now, said energy consultant Randy Richmond, founder of RightHand Engineering (Woodinville, Wash.). “What’s innovative for a typical user is different than what it might be for an engineer,” said Richmond. Hence, the biggest innovation is the availability of cheaper products like lithium-ion batteries from China. “It’s innovative that I can get this stuff [and] it’s cheaper.” Batteries based on chemistries like lithium iron phosphate are available now, “but the equipment necessary to use it on a residential renewable energy system doesn’t exist yet,” Richmond said. “I think it will happen, but the manufacturers I talk to are just now beginning to think about it.” Widespread commercial availability of lithium-ion battery technologies for renewable energy applications like off-grid systems remains several years off, experts here predicted. Among the reasons are the entrenched market for lead-acid batteries and the high upfront cost of investing in lithium-ion technology. “It probably will be three years before we start seeing residential renewable energy equipment available that will make use of the lithium-ion batteries that are available today,” Richmond said. “And of course the battery technology will improve, and probably three years from now we’ll see something better than we’ve got now.” Among the emerging technologies are lithium air and nanotube carbon technologies. The latter could be used in combination with different battery chemistries. “It may triple what lithium ion does today,” Richmond predicted, but will bring it with it a new set of problems like adapting charging control equipment. Richmond’s small company sought to demonstrate the potential returns of investing in the emerging battery technology by converting a 2001 GMC pickup truck to an electric vehicle. He replaced the truck’s lead-acid battery with a battery pack consisting of 48 3.3V lithium iron phosphate batteries placed in the truck’s bed. The result of the roughly $12,000 investment was a doubling of the truck’s range and acceleration. One issue was consistent charging of all the batteries. Hence, Richmond said he invested an additional $3,200 in a battery management system to avoid over- or undercharging. Projects like converting vehicles from internal combustion engines to electric drives are beginning to demonstrate the commercial viability of emerging battery technologies, but what about the larger potential of renewable energy to meet future U.S. energy demand? A study released last week by the National Renewable Energy Lab forecasts that current renewable energy sources combined with a more flexible power grid could supply as much as 80 percent of total U.S. electricity generation by 2050. A key enabling technology for achieving that goal, the study found, was improved “grid storage.”