NAATBatt International will host its second annual workshop on zinc battery technology at the Advanced Science Research Center at CUNY in New York City on Thursday, November 7, 2019.

The workshop will examine the state of the technology and the state of the market for zinc-based batteries.  For the past ten years, the energy storage industry has focused heavily on lithium-ion technology.  But lithium-ion technology will not be the last word in energy storage.  Certain persistent problems in lithium battery technology—thermal instability, life cycle, cost, complexity, recyclability—have potential customers always on the lookout for the next-next thing in battery technology.

Zinc-based batteries, including zinc manganese oxide, nickel zinc, zinc silver and zinc air, might just be that next-next thing.  Or at least part of it.  Long dogged by limited cycle life, recent advances in zinc battery technology now allow zinc-based batteries to compete in numerous battery applications.  Cheap, relatively simple and easy to manufacture and recycle, zinc-based batteries have properties which make them attractive to many customers who find the technological shortcomings of lithium-ion batteries and the environmental and performance characteristics of lead-acid batteries to be problematic.

The workshop will focus on the market for stationary energy storage in New York City, a market where the thermal instability of lithium-ion batteries has been a major barrier to large scale deployment of distributed stationary energy storage.  The workshop will feature a talk about the New York Fire Department’s ongoing review of stationary energy storage technology and consider whether zinc-based systems might address some of the NYFD’s concerns.

The NAATBatt Workshop on Zinc Battery Technology II will present case studies of specific applications where customers have chosen zinc-based batteries rather than lithium-ion and lead-acid systems.  The performance and cost characteristics of zinc-based batteries in those applications will be discussed in detail.  The workshop will feature an analysis of the potential market for zinc-based batteries in light of recent technical improvements and review the nature and price history of the zinc-based battery supply chain.

Finally, zinc-based battery technology is a moving target.  The workshop will feature talks by leading researchers working in zinc-based battery technology discussing new developments in the laboratory, which could soon make zinc-based batteries an even more attractive alternative to lithium-ion and lead acid technology.  The workshop will examine what some of these new developments are and when they might be available in the marketplace.

Please join us in New York City on Thursday, November 7, for a truly interesting look at this new opportunity in advanced battery technology.  NAATBatt members and non-members are welcome.