A lead-carbon battery storage system for solar power, with a cycle life “more than four times that of conventional lead technology”, has been developed by Chinese lead battery firm Baoding Fengfan and scientists.
Fengfan’s research partner the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics— part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences— said the battery has been developed to store power generated by solar and wind.
The system is undergoing trials as part of a pilot project at the Institute in northeastern China.
The Institute said the extended cycle life is the result of “resolving” sulfation issues, although it did not give details.
According to China’s state Xinhua News Agency, the research team led by professors Xianfeng Li and Huamin Zhang has integrated a number of lead-carbon units with lighting at the Institute including 46 solar-powered streetlights.
The Institute teamed up with Fengfan in 2015 to build a “joint research and development centre for advanced battery technology” and to cooperate in the R&D of “advanced” 12V/38Ah lead-carbon batteries for commercial use.
According To Xinhua, the development team is eyeing a “kilowatt-level and a megawatt-level lead-carbon battery energy storage system for renewable energy projects in industrial applications as a next step”.
