Page 29 - ETU Journal Autumn 2017

NEW TEchNoLogy > INSERT BATTERIES HERE renewabLe energy is Here nOw
The humble battery is about to change everything. Not
the AAs that slip into your computer’s mouse, your Playstation controller or the remote for your television. These are batteries on steroids that will power
your home, your suburb and eventually, the whole country.
than 40 cents per kWh. Stand by for a bit of red ink from your power company.
Enter the battery
Battery technology has come ahead in leaps and bounds in recent years. Early solar adapters, frustrated by having to buy back their careful power collection at four times the price, are installing very smart lithium batteries, some of which can eliminate dependence on the grid completely.
Inbuilt management software tells the system when to low electricity from storage. For example, on a sunny day, when generation exceeds use, the power will go irst to recharge the battery, and then any excess can be delivered to the grid. At night, when family demand spikes, the power low goes back to the house.
On a recent ABC Catalyst television programme, one enthusiast demonstrated just how efective this can be – 53% of their household’s electricity needs now come from the battery, 44% from the solar panels during the day, and just 3% from the grid.
Investment required
While that’s a really big change, there’s quite a bit of upfront cost that must be taken into account. Firstly, you’d better buy some solar collectors. An entry level 3kW system will set you back around $6,000, installed.
Up until early
2015, you couldn’t
get a seven kilowatt
battery, plus inverter, plus installation, for under about $15,000. But in the last six months, prices have suddenly dropped by a third or even more. And costs will continue their downward trend. That knock at the door is probably a power company trying to log you a ‘special battery deal’.
Within ive years, over a million Australian homes are expected to have one. It will probably be sooner.
With a bit of foresight, some investment and some big thinkers, Australia is uniquely positioned
in the world to become the renewable energy lab. We have loads of sunshine, we have some of the smartest tech-heads, and our high electricity prices are driving a demand for change. The [less fortunate] world is watching.
Power companies still win
Previously, you would buy a bunch of solar panels and collect a heap
of power. In fact, some arrays can collect nearly twice as much as one household would need. Already, 1.4 million Australian homes are doing this.
You then sell the excess back to
the grid at a measley seven cents
per kilowatt hour [kWh]. But come the evening, when you lick on the lights and arc up the telly and put the dishwasher through, when typically about 60% of your power gets used, you will have to buy it back at more
you choose
1. Go completely off-grid.
This appeals to those of us who are tired of power companies rummaging through our wallets. It’s also great for remote locations, especially where a reliable power source is needed to ight ires. One disadvantage is that you will need a brute of a battery to get you through at least one cloudy week.
2. Almost off-grid.
Here you generate most of your own power, but keep the wire for backup. This also allows you to earn a quid when feeding your excess back into the grid.
3. Toe-in-the-water.
Install a smaller battery and use your collected solar during the peak hours when electricity is expensive. This
system is modular and allows you to scale up when you are ready.
charge your walls
around the world, the race has been on to develop a better battery than the current lithium one. australian, Professor Thomas Maschmeyer, thinks he’s nailed it.
His version of the zinc-bromine low battery is a bit of a racehorse. It uses a gel to transport the charged particles,
which has a number of advantages, not the least of which is superfast charging. This means you could potentially charge a phone, or even an electric car in just a few minutes!
One of its biggest pluses is the gel – that makes it bendy and that means it won’t crack. It also means it could be scaled up and included as part of the structure of new buildings. Lendlease is one of a number of big construction companies exploring this potential right now.
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