Sodium Battery Breakthrough

Scientists make breakthrough in production of salt-based battery technology: 'This process makes it easier' (msn.com)

The Chinese are already using sodium batteries for their cars, but this looks like the first serious anode anyone has come up with, the missing piece to making these a reality in the west. Its merely salt, and you can even replace the salt if you want, and recycle the battery. These will make what now cost hundreds of dollars, eventually drop dramatically in price, while also making them eco friendly and unlikely to ever catch fire. Between these kinds of batteries and the new solar cells coming out soon, supplying all the electricity for 20-30 years could for a small house, might cost $2,000 or less.

 

I don't know how anyone can economically justify a solar setup on the house. Spending $35-40k on a rooftop setup of 12-15kW to save maybe $100/mo doesn't make sense. Add batteries and it's a small fortune more. It would be a fun project, though. My neighbor has 12kW on the roof and says it's terribly slanted toward the utility's benefit, of course. Now, if we could go off grid......

 

The newest research with Perskovite paints has produced impressive results. Its just paint, with a cheap rare earth added, and has a fraction of the efficiency, but its paint on your entire house, and its enough to replace rooftop mounted cells. They also make flexible ones on plastic sheets, with higher efficiency, which should be on the market in three years. That would bring the price down to about fifty bucks per battery, and per gallon of paint, or a few hundred dollars, for no more electric bill.

 

Methinks the local power utility would do their best to discourage that since they are in business to sell kWhrs....like big oil buying up fuel cell patents. But we clearly can't continue to go on this course.

My rear neighbor has a roof top solar setup...the panels were flexible and just kind of rolled out over the roof.

 

Science may work, but common sense is certainly out of order.

My current diesel car returns up to 75mpg when I am driving it............... A sore point with Jane. LOL

If I changed to an EV, taking the energy used from the power station the return would be less than 10mpg

 

Yeah, we really blew it here, we jumped the gun on EV's. We should have had a round of clean small diesels - which they could easily have done. Hybrids are too complex. EVs with today's battery structure just don't make sense at the price of EV's today. Why would I drop $95,000 on a Tesla that I can't get 200 miles out of? And no, with the way they punch those cells in fast charge mode they're not going to last the life of the car if you need to drive it more than 20 miles a day..

 

LOL, science only works because life has an intrinsic symmetry. We think life must make some sort of sense, because assuming it doesn't is not called "thinking". Descartes famously wrote, "I think therefore I am" but, its actually more like, "I can still think, therefore I must be capable of feeling something!" Once we have the symmetry, science will start to become just a branch of applied engineering, in a few hundred years at most.

The stars are our destiny, not logic.

 

I think...I'll have another beer.

 

There is a problem with that idea.
To meet the emissions requirement Diesel engine requires EGR and more complex valve arrangements
Engines that had the normal million mile design life are literally falling apart at 150,000 miles.
In all the changes in models, manufacturers have hidden the huge additional cost or these engines.

 

So, put some of that EV R&D money into clean diesels. There has to be a way. Yes, when they first put pollution controls and catalytic converters on cars, it lessened life and MPG.

 

I can still think, therefore, I must still be capable of feeling something, and I either feel something for you baby, or I can't think! In other words, ya gotta learn how to love yourself. I love myself, and others, therefore, I'm not gullible as hell! If life hands you lemons, pay it forward faster. Science acts as if such things are difficult to measure, but they're just taboo. Merely exercising and doing about 30 hours of service time a month, will ensure you live long and prosper.