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I was hiking this past weekend and one of the folks I was hiking with had done some technical contracting for GE at the Durathon plant. Durathons are a new version of older technology (Zebra batteries) and use an electrolyte that is solid at room temperature. They have to be heated to a high temp for the electrolyte to be liquid. Once up to temperature they reportedly have far longer cycle times than conventional lead acid and the materials to make the batteries are readily available. He sure wasn't a spokesman but he did have some interesting comments
They are selling them as fast as they can make them, mostly to African cell phone tower companies
They are trying to sell to integrators so buying individual batteries is a long way off if ever.
The process to the make the batteries was labor intensive, the major goal of GE is to automate the process to drive down costs and improve yield. He didn't know the cost of the batteries but other source indicate they are well above the cost for lead acid which would be expected if GE is involved and they are paying off a brand new factory.
My big question has been what happens if they allowed to cool down when charged. He was told they would hold the charge without a lot of losses until the battery was warmed up again but that warm up would require a significant source of power. His was also told it doesn't really hurt the battery to allow it to cool but given the thermal cycling I would expect its not something to do routinely. When operating at temperature about 1% of the batteries output is used to maintain the cases temperature.
Obviously its speculation on my part but the technology seems attractive for off gird large solar installations due to long cycle life but the need to keep them hot will most likely require either small bank of other technology batteries or a standby generator.
They are selling them as fast as they can make them, mostly to African cell phone tower companies
They are trying to sell to integrators so buying individual batteries is a long way off if ever.
The process to the make the batteries was labor intensive, the major goal of GE is to automate the process to drive down costs and improve yield. He didn't know the cost of the batteries but other source indicate they are well above the cost for lead acid which would be expected if GE is involved and they are paying off a brand new factory.
My big question has been what happens if they allowed to cool down when charged. He was told they would hold the charge without a lot of losses until the battery was warmed up again but that warm up would require a significant source of power. His was also told it doesn't really hurt the battery to allow it to cool but given the thermal cycling I would expect its not something to do routinely. When operating at temperature about 1% of the batteries output is used to maintain the cases temperature.
Obviously its speculation on my part but the technology seems attractive for off gird large solar installations due to long cycle life but the need to keep them hot will most likely require either small bank of other technology batteries or a standby generator.
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