There’s an electric bond with water…
It looks like Tesla’s Powerwall 2 battery now has some competition.
Yes, competition – something not often heard among those in the Tesla world!
The “generator” of the future…
Australia-based energy company Lavo has developed a home battery storage system that can power a house using hydrogen – instead of lithium-ion batteries.
While Tesla focuses more on the electric aspect of it, Lavo focuses its massive battery on “electrolysis” – which can generate hydrogen from water, contain it, and then turn it into electricity using a fuel cell.
Lavo’s battery has a huge 40 KWh capacity, which is 3X the capacity of Tesla’s Powerwall 2 battery.
The large battery (called the Green Energy Storage System) can power an average home for about 2 days straight. It can also work as a “generator” in case a grid goes down.
The Lavo Green Energy Storage System measures 66 x 49 x 15.7 inches and weighs a hefty 714 lbs. But the plus side, Lavo states, is that “the key bits should last much longer than a battery system, up to 30 years instead of maybe 15 from a lithium battery setup.”
How does it all work?
To set it up, the user connects the Green Energy Storage System to their hybrid solar inverter and a purification unit.
Next, the system uses the extra energy to electrolyze the water, release oxygen, and store the hydrogen in a metal hydride “sponge” within four red containers inside the whole unit.
It can’t be a modern-day utility without Wi-Fi connectivity, and a phone app that can be used to monitor and control the device.
Since it doesn’t use chemicals like in a regular battery and doesn’t use as many rare earth metals, it’s considered to be more environmentally friendly.
Because of these two factors – and due to the use of hydrogen gas – this system can last longer than lithium battery systems.
Are there any drawbacks?
Like with any new technology, there are some precautions people should consider. For example, there could be a higher risk of fire.
However, Lavo stated that any leaks will disperse quickly and will be “inherently no more dangerous than other conventional fuels such as gasoline or natural gas.”
Unfortunately, it has a lower efficiency than average lithium-ion battery systems. With Lavo’s system, you’ll get back about 50% of the energy collected and stored – while a normal battery process gives you back about 90%.
The sticker price is also expensive – landing at around $26,900. But Lavo hopes to drop it down to $22,800 by late 2022 when it will also be available internationally.
So, would you buy a battery to help environmentally power your home? Or are you waiting longer to see if this technology will actually be worth the sticker price? Let us know below in the comments section!
97075 Robedeau says
I think its worth looking at. I’m like most people, I want it in use to prove its worth. Keep me posted. Thank you
Alana says
Agree. An actual setup on a 2000sqft net zero house fully installed, off grid working model would be great demonstration. Include major housing systems that could be motified to run direct reducing energy loss conversion hvac, water, refrigeration and yes sold worth current price even once mass produced one would see a price drop. Let’s see it and the science working in a real world application
Adrian says
Sitting on the beach at Kuta, Bali, the evening was rent with a lot of small explosions. Turns out the locals were filling balloons with hydrogen gas, and setting fire to the string and releasing them.
As soon as the flame got near the balloon, it would go off in a mighty bang. ho hum…
Alan Turland says
A bit too expensive
Bernard David says
There is another possible source for the hydrogen that is available in large residential buildings. Waste food and other biological matter when put into a composter produces methane which is a good source of hydrogen. However extraction is not easy and at present is done on an industrial scale. It would be ideal if this could be done on a small scale for the hydrogen to be stored in the metal hydride “sponge”.
Alana says
Excellent point. But farmers have everything needed on hand as waste. Production is nothing to them. Storage like this adapted to every aspect of their operation would be a huge step. Closest idea I could come up with that might be at a scale useable, otherwise agree industrial scale is as far as we have taken application at this point.
Elizabeth Green says
Good point. Using up water for inefficient energy use is kind of dumb, given the previous article about our polluted oceans.
Elizabeth Green says
The idea of using methane is a good one. Our oceans are so polluted that you call the debris a continent and then you want to use up all the water to supply first world countries with energy that is not efficient? This idea frightens and saddens and angers me.
Melvin says
The price will have to come down to be beneficial to most families. The majority of the time conventional electrical power is not off more than two days which is the full time use of this battery product. I can definitely see that building battery storage for the U.S. Power grid is a good asset for overall system operation. Prices will have to come down though.