Redflow starts customer trial of Gen 3 flow battery design
|
James Emmett with his initial four Redflow batteries. Photo: Redflow
|
Australian flow battery maker Redflow has launched the first customer trial of its new ‘Generation 3’ ZBM2 zinc-bromine flow battery.
Two Gen 3 batteries are being used in the trial on Tamborine Mountain, in the Australian state of Queensland, where Redflow already has four Gen 2 batteries supporting an off-grid residential energy system.
Redflow CEO and MD Tim Harris said the trial marked an "important development milestone” towards Gen 3 batteries becoming "customer and production ready in 2021”.
"There is no substitute for real-life customer testing and this trial will be very valuable to understand how the Gen 3 battery performs in a live environment,” Harris said.
Off-grid system
The two new batteries at the Mount Tamborine site, for end customer James Emmet, will run for a number of weeks before returning to Redflow for further analysis and testing.
Emmett’s three-bedroom house relies on solar panels and the Redflow batteries to power lighting, air conditioners, ovens, washing machines and home entertainment systems. The energy storage system is also used to charge a 64kWh Hyundai Kona electric car.
Redflow COO Richard Aird announced last summer that the Gen 3 design included "a major advancement in stack technology, tank architecture, improved cooling and a new electronics control system”.
As a result of the changes, Aird said the new design could deliver the same level of performance – a 10kWh, 5kW-peak battery – "but allow us to utilise mass-manufacturing techniques for the very first time”.
Related article in our archive:
Two Gen 3 batteries are being used in the trial on Tamborine Mountain, in the Australian state of Queensland, where Redflow already has four Gen 2 batteries supporting an off-grid residential energy system.
Redflow CEO and MD Tim Harris said the trial marked an "important development milestone” towards Gen 3 batteries becoming "customer and production ready in 2021”.
"There is no substitute for real-life customer testing and this trial will be very valuable to understand how the Gen 3 battery performs in a live environment,” Harris said.
Off-grid system
Emmett’s three-bedroom house relies on solar panels and the Redflow batteries to power lighting, air conditioners, ovens, washing machines and home entertainment systems. The energy storage system is also used to charge a 64kWh Hyundai Kona electric car.
Redflow COO Richard Aird announced last summer that the Gen 3 design included "a major advancement in stack technology, tank architecture, improved cooling and a new electronics control system”.
As a result of the changes, Aird said the new design could deliver the same level of performance – a 10kWh, 5kW-peak battery – "but allow us to utilise mass-manufacturing techniques for the very first time”.
Related article in our archive: