China develops battery to store renewable energy

SHENYANG -- Chinese scientists have developed a lead-carbon battery for storing power generated from solar panels and windmills, through which the electricity supply is stable for use.

An energy storage system with the batteries has been piloted in Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics in Northeast China's Liaoning province.

There are 46 streetlights and landscape lights using solar energy for power at the institute. Each lamppost has a solar panel to generate power, which is sent to a battery equipped under the post. A fully-charged battery can power a streetlight for more than 23 hours.

The system was developed by a research team led by Professor Li Xianfeng and Professor Zhang Huamin with the institute.

The scientists said power generated by renewable energy sources was not continuous and stable, making it difficult to regulate. The battery can ensure a stable output of electricity. Once applied, it can help push the use of clean energy from an auxiliary to a dominant power generating source.

In the pilot, the battery has shown a 100 percent recharge rate and safety performance.

The team has applied for 10 national patents for the battery.

The research was launched under a contract signed between the institute and the Baoding Fengfan Co Ltd under the China Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Group in 2015. Currently, it has solved all key technical issues.

For the next step, the two sides will start to develop a kilowatt-level and a megawatt-level lead-carbon battery energy storage system for renewable energy projects as its first industrial applications.