What is the new battery technology 2023? What are the home energy storage trends?

The main purpose of this article is to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the new battery technology in 2023. and share what we think are the most suitable battery technologies for home energy storage now and in the future.

What is the new battery technology 2023?

Solid-state Battery:

Solid-state batteries are a battery technology that has attracted much attention in recent years. It uses solid electrolyte instead of traditional liquid electrolyte, which has higher energy density, faster charging speed and longer service life, and is also safer and more reliable. At present, many manufacturers and research institutions are developing and promoting solid-state battery technology, such as: BYD, Toyota

Solid-state battery is a new type of battery technology, which has the following advantages over traditional liquid batteries.

Advantage

• Higher safety: solid-state batteries do not contain liquid electrolytes, which can effectively avoid safety issues such as battery leakage and explosion;
• Higher energy density: solid-state batteries use high-energy-density solid-state electrolytes, which can provide higher energy density than traditional liquid batteries, thus making the batteries more durable;
• Better environmental protection: solid-state batteries do not contain toxic and harmful substances, and have less environmental pollution;
• Faster charging time: Solid-state batteries charge faster and can be fully charged faster.

Disadvantage

• Higher prices: solid-state batteries are currently relatively expensive to manufacture and more expensive;
• More technical difficulty: Since solid-state batteries need to use high-quality electrolytes and materials, they are more difficult to manufacture;
• Poor cycle performance stability: The cycle performance stability of solid-state batteries has not been completely resolved, and the service life is short;
• Energy density is not high enough: Although the energy density of solid-state batteries is higher than that of traditional liquid batteries, it is not yet comparable to lithium-ion batteries.

To sum up, solid-state battery is a new battery technology with many advantages and has broad application prospects.

Metal-air Battery

Metal-air battery: A metal-air battery is a battery that uses metals (such as aluminum, zinc, iron, etc.) to react with oxygen in the air to generate electricity. Metal-air batteries work differently from conventional batteries in that they don’t require chemicals to store electricity, but instead get oxygen directly from the air. When a metal reacts with oxygen in the air, electrons and hydroxide ions (OH-) are produced, and the reaction between the two forms electrical energy, which creates an electric current.

Metal-air battery is a new type of battery technology. Compared with traditional lithium-ion batteries and lead-acid batteries, metal-air batteries have the following advantages:

• High energy density: Metal-air batteries use oxygen in the air as the positive electrode material. Compared with the positive electrode materials of traditional batteries, oxygen has a higher energy density, so the energy density of metal-air batteries is higher.
• Pollution-free: metal-air batteries only need air and metal materials, without the use of liquid electrolytes and harmful substances, so metal-air batteries have lower environmental pollution and health risks than other batteries.
• Sustainable: The metal anode materials of metal-air batteries can be reused through regeneration and recycling, so metal-air batteries are more sustainable and economical than other batteries.
• High safety: Metal-air batteries do not release heat during operation, and are not prone to safety problems such as thermal runaway and fire, so they have higher safety.
• Wide applicability: Metal-air batteries can be designed according to different metal materials and air types, so they are suitable for different application fields, such as electric vehicles, mobile devices, aerospace, etc.

It should be noted that metal-air batteries also have some disadvantages, such as short service life and low discharge rate, so they need to be continuously improved and optimized in technology. Its capacity decreases over time, and the metal anode needs to be replaced periodically.

Sodium-ion battery:

Sodium-ion battery is a new type of battery technology, which is similar to lithium-ion battery, but uses sodium ion instead of lithium ion as the active ion of the battery. The positive electrode material of sodium ion battery can be sodium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide, sodium iron phosphate, etc., and the negative electrode material can be carbon, silicon, etc. Sodium-ion batteries work similarly to lithium-ion batteries, storing and releasing electrical energy through electrochemical reactions. At present, many companies and research institutions are developing and promoting sodium-ion battery technology, BYD, CATL, Austrianova.

• Sodium is more abundant: Sodium is the sixth most abundant element on earth, more abundant than lithium, and can be used on a large scale, thereby reducing the cost of sodium-ion batteries.
• Lower cost: Compared with lithium-ion batteries, the material cost of sodium-ion batteries is lower.
• Higher energy density: Under the same volume or weight, sodium-ion batteries can store more energy and thus have higher energy density.
• Wider temperature range: Na-ion batteries can operate in a wider temperature range, which makes Na-ion batteries have wider application prospects, such as use in extreme climate conditions.

• Shorter life: Na-ion batteries have a shorter cycle life than Li-ion batteries, which means Na-ion batteries need to be replaced more frequently.
• Low Energy Efficiency: The low energy efficiency of sodium-ion batteries means that they have high energy losses during charging and discharging.
• Requires higher operating temperature: Compared with lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries require higher operating temperatures to achieve better performance.
• Swelling issues: During charging and discharging, the materials of Na-ion batteries may swell, which may reduce the lifetime of Na-ion batteries.

Lithium iron phosphate battery (LiFePO4):

The last one we discussed is not a new battery technology, but this battery has only been widely used and gradually accepted by the market in the past two years. At present, many developed countries in the world are using this battery to replace lead-acid batteries.

Lithium iron phosphate battery is a lithium ion battery, the positive electrode uses lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) as the active material, the negative electrode uses graphite material, and the electrolyte is organic solvent and lithium salt. The voltage of the lithium iron phosphate battery is 3.2V. During the charge and discharge process, lithium ions move between the positive and negative electrodes to complete the charge and discharge of the battery.

• High safety: LFP batteries have high stability and will not catch fire or explode like other types of lithium-ion batteries. Therefore, it is widely used in electric vehicles, energy storage batteries and other fields.
• Long life: Compared with other types of lithium-ion batteries, LFP batteries have a longer life, and the number of charging times can reach thousands of times.
• Environmentally friendly: LFP batteries use environmentally friendly materials such as lithium iron phosphate, which have less impact on the environment.
• Good charge and discharge performance: LFP batteries have good charge and discharge performance, fast charging speed, and can be charged and discharged in a short time.
• Good low temperature performance: Compared with other types of lithium-ion batteries, LFP batteries perform better in low temperature environments.
• Relatively low cost: The cost of LFP batteries is relatively low and suitable for large-scale applications.

• Relatively low energy density: LFP batteries have a relatively low energy density, compared to other types of lithium-ion batteries.
• Large size and weight: LFP batteries are large in size and weight, which limits their use in some application scenarios.

Above we discussed the new battery technologies for 2023, analyzing their advantages and disadvantages. Next, we will discuss which of these battery technologies is more suitable for home energy storage batteries.

From the development of a new battery technology to its wide application, it actually needs to meet multiple conditions.

From the perspective of research and development, the development cycle will vary according to the complexity and application scenarios of new technologies, and this cycle may be ten or decades. The R&D process also requires multiple stages such as theoretical research, experimental verification, engineering development, and mass production.

From a production point of view, if a new battery technology wants to achieve mass production, it needs the supply guarantee of upstream raw materials. The supply and price stability of raw materials are the basic conditions for the widespread application of new battery technologies. In addition, the manufacturing technology and quality control of new battery technology are also elements that affect the development of this technology. Whether a product with reliable quality can be provided to the market will directly affect whether the market accepts the product. The improvement and development of a new technology upstream and downstream supply chain usually takes several years to ten years.

From a social point of view, whether the new technology can provide higher energy density, whether the production cost can be reduced, whether the new technology is conducive to environmental protection and sustainable development. These factors will affect society’s attitude towards this technology. In addition, another very important condition is whether the new battery technology is supported by national policies. The government provides financial and resource support for new technologies, which can greatly promote the innovation and development of a technology, and can also promote the rapid growth of the entire upstream and downstream industrial chains.

According to the development of current technology, solid-state batteries will be applied to some commercial products in 2023, while sodium-ion batteries and metal-air batteries are in the process of development, and there are not many products using these two batteries. technology. It will take a long time for these three technologies to be widely used in people’s lives, and it is still unknown whether they will eventually be accepted by the market and used on a large scale.

However, lithium iron phosphate batteries were first discovered by scientists from Japan’s Sanyo Corporation in the 1980s, and commercial products were launched in 1996. China also started research and development of this battery technology in 2000. With the accumulation of technology, lithium iron phosphate has also been widely used in the electric vehicle industry and energy storage industry in the past two years.

To conclusion, in the next 5-10 years, lithium iron phosphate batteries will still be the battery technology of choice in the home energy storage industry. Currently, most developed countries are just beginning to use lithium iron phosphate batteries as a replacement for the older technology, lead-acid batteries. Therefore, the development space of lithium iron phosphate battery is huge. In the short term, there is no new technology that can replace lithium iron phosphate batteries.

WANROY is a company that provides home energy storage systems (ESS). Our mission is to provide high-performance, safe and environmentally friendly home energy storage batteries to customers in the United States, Germany, Italy, Greece and Romania. At present, all of our energy storage batteries use high-end lithium iron phosphate cells, coupled with our advanced production technology and strict quality control, making WANROY’s energy storage batteries your first choice.