Flow Battery - Applications

Applications

Flow batteries are normally considered for relatively large (1 kW·h – 10 MW·h) stationary applications. These are for

• Load balancing - where the battery is connected to an electrical grid to store excess electrical power during off-peak hours and release electrical power during peak demand periods.
• Storing energy from renewable sources such as wind or solar for discharge during periods of peak demand.
• Peak shaving, where spikes of demand are met by the battery.
• UPS, where the battery is used if the main power fails to provide an uninterrupted supply.
• power conversion - because all cells share the same electrolyte/s. Therefore, the electrolyte/s may be charged using a given number of cells and discharged with a different number. Because the voltage of the battery is proportional to the number of cells used the battery can therefore act as a very powerful DC/DC converter. In addition, if the number of cells is continuously changed (on the input and/or output side) power conversion can also be AC/DC, AC/AC, or DC/AC with the frequency limited by that of the switching gear.
• Electric vehicles - Because flow batteries can be rapidly "recharged" by replacing the electrolyte, they can be used for applications where the vehicle needs to take on energy as fast as a combustion engined vehicle.
• Stand-alone power system - An example of this is the telecomms industry for use in cellphone base stations where there is no mains power available. The battery can be used alongside a solar or a wind power to compensate for their fluctuating power levels and alongside a generator to make the most efficient use of it to save fuel.