Iron–air battery

Example

Use in Lemonergy

Do not carry lithium-ion assumptions into every chemistry.

This is a reference concept. No executable Lemonergy block has been verified for this term.

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Energy efficiency

Energy out divided by energy in over a full cycle. It is lower than coulombic efficiency because the charge voltage sits above the discharge voltage; cells reach 95–98 %, and a full storage system 85–92 % after power electronics and cooling.

Levelized cost of storage

The total lifetime cost of a storage system divided by the total energy it will discharge, in currency per megawatt-hour. It folds cell price, efficiency, cycle life and degradation into one figure for comparing technologies.

Long-duration energy storage

Storage that discharges for eight hours or more, filling gaps that lithium-ion’s one-to-four-hour systems leave. Flow, iron–air and thermal technologies compete for it by making energy capacity cheap even when power is not.

Nickel–iron battery

A 1.2 V alkaline rechargeable cell with a nickel oxyhydroxide positive and iron negative, developed by Jungner and Edison around 1900. It is nearly indestructible, tolerating overcharge, deep discharge and decades of use, but low energy density, high self-discharge, hydrogen gassing and poor efficiency confined it to railways, mines and off-grid storage.

Stationary storage

Batteries installed in a fixed place — a container at a solar farm, a cabinet in a home — to shift energy in time or support the grid. LFP cells dominate because cost per cycle and safety matter more than mass.

Zinc–air cell

A cell whose positive electrode uses oxygen from the air, so almost all its volume is zinc and its energy density is very high. It powers hearing aids as a primary cell; rechargeable versions are being developed for grid storage.

References & further reading

Further reading on this topic

These sources provide broader context; they are not presented as citations for every statement in this entry.

1. Promise and reality of post-lithium-ion batteries with high energy densities

   Jang Wook Choi, Doron Aurbach · Nature Reviews Materials · 2016

   Topic background · Post-lithium-ion materials and battery concepts, including practical cell-level limitations; historical 2016 perspective.

2. DOE/EPRI 2013 Electricity Storage Handbook in Collaboration with NRECA

   Sandia National Laboratories · 2013

   Topic background · Storage technologies and grid services. The publisher notes that its historical cost and deployment figures are outdated.