Flow Battery

Chemically Stored Electricity

A flow battery is a device that's similar to regular batteries like the kind we use in our TV remotes and other small electronic devices. It contains chemically stored electricity.

With traditional batteries, known as lead acid batteries, the chemicals remain inside the battery. However, a flow battery, works in a quite different, more flexible manner. In a flow battery, the chemicals, charged with electricity, can be drained into storage tanks, actually allowing one battery to hold an almost unlimited amount of energy. To access the electricity, the flow of the battery is reversed, and the electricity is regenerated from the battery. 

With traditional electricity sources, the utility companies adjust the flow constantly to match the demand for electricity. This is difficult with renewable sources like wind and solar energy, and require utility companies to keep conventional power stations ready to pick up the slack.

By using flow batteries to store energy in large quantities, on a scalable level, renewable energy sources could become a much more important and much larger part of the energy mix than they are currently.

Renewable energy, like wind and solar energy, has always been different from the energy created by coal-powered and nuclear-powered power plants. Obviously the sun does not shine all the time, and the wind may fail to blow for days on end. One of the solutions to this problem is to use flow batteries and chemically stored electricity.

See our related article on alternative fuel sources.