SBIR Phase I: Air-breathing electrochemical devices for long-duration grid-scale energy storage

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to unleash the full potential of renewable electricity generation sources such as wind and solar photovoltaic by augmenting those generation assets with ultra-low-cost energy storage that matches the dispatchability and dependability of fossil fuels. The combination of renewable generation sources with ultra-low-cost, long-duration energy storage enables a new class of generation assets "baseload renewables" which further US energy independence and leadership in the wind and solar industries. Due to their fundamental cost positions and/or inability to scale, existing energy storage technologies are unable to meet the price and performance requirements for these long-duration energy storage applications; even the most aggressive forecasts for pricing indicate that lithium ion batteries are an order of magnitude too expensive for these applications. This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop ultra-low-cost (24h rated duration) energy storage solutions to enable renewable generation sources to be a cost effective, widespread, drop-in replacement to fossil fuel electricity generation. Air-breathing aqueous sulfur batteries provide a unique platform for the development of system-level long-duration storage assets meeting these stringent cost and performance targets. The technology platform leverages low-cost, abundant chemicals such as sulfur, water, and air, to enable an ultra-low-cost electrochemical energy storage system. In Phase I of this SBIR, a prototype air-breathing energy storage device will be developed and demonstrated that significantly reduces the power cost ($/kW) of this technology. This will be achieved by systematically investigating and optimizing the electrochemical active and inactive materials and by designing cell and system architectures which are optimized for long-duration air-breathing electrochemical systems. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.