The essentials
TOPIC
Duration changes chemistry
Short duration rewards power density; long duration rewards cheap energy storage. Lithium optimizes the first, iron-air and flow the second.
TOPIC
Iron-air
Rusting iron reversibly. Terrible round-trip efficiency, wonderful cost per kilowatt-hour. For multi-day storage that trade is correct.
TOPIC
Flow batteries
Energy in tanks, power at the stack, sized independently. Ideal when duration and power need to scale separately.
4 hr
Lithium sweet spot
100 hr
Iron-air target
DECOUPLED
Flow sizing
$/kWh
Long-duration metric
Go deeper.
Part of the Porritt Inc. energy library. Questions or corrections are welcome.
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