Early-stage lead-acid focused startup Gridtential has been selected by the Department of Energy (DOE) to pursue validation testing at Sandia’s Energy Storage Analysis Laboratory.
The US firm has developed a proprietary technology that replaces the metal grid in current lead-acid battery designs with a silicon substrate.
Gridtential claims its silicon-based approach improves performance, while utilising 40% less lead.
Gridtential has developed and tested internal prototypes of an advanced battery design that it says has a 75% lower LCOE of traditional lead-acid, and doubles cycle life at 80% depth of discharge, when Gridtential’s tests are compared to manufacturer’s data sheets.
The Califonian company is ignoring the automobile sector and is targeting the $3billion traction market and the $5billion stationary market.
Tests have been conducted on the company’s Alpha unit and have not gone though formal certification for commercial sales.
Gridtential is using independent laboratories to verify performance and identify areas where the design can be optimised or improved. These validation steps are necessary to demonstrate the chemistry and architecture of the Silicon Joule™ battery meets grid application requirements.
The independent laboratories were: Eclipse Energy Labs in Anderson, Indiana; JBI Corporation in Genoa, Ohio; Quanta Laboratories in Santa Clara, California
