-
SoNick the non-flammable battery

If you’re serious about battery safety, one battery stands head and shoulders above all other battery technologies.
It’s the Sodium Nickel (SoNick) salt battery, manufactured by FZSoNick and distributed in Australia by GridEdge.
With increasing demands for battery safety standards, SoNick is a unique product that helps our partners stand out.
The SoNick battery technology was the first and still is one of very few that have UL9540A certification for safety, stating it will not go into thermal runaway, both on a cell and complete module basis. This means no risk of fire or explosion, even in the presence of external fire.
UL9540A certified

-
SoNick batteries support Radial Renewable Energy Park in Yarram
GridEdge is currently involved in a project to create a Renewable Energy Park at the Radial Timbers Sawmill in Yarram.
This project uses the GridEdge SoNick Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and solar, added to a pyrolysis machine to create a “Bioenergy Cell” that provides power for the mill and further processes residual timber products into valuable bioproducts.
The battery installations are using 4 x 620V SoNick batteries in a SoNick Zebra container.

-

The benefits of molten salt batteries

As we move towards a future that heavily relies on renewable energy sources and sustainable technologies, energy storage solutions play a crucial role. Molten salt batteries, also known as liquid metal batteries, have emerged as a promising option due to their unique characteristics and advantages. They are a type of rechargeable battery that uses molten salts as the electrolyte. Here are some of their benefits:
Enhanced Safety: Molten salt batteries generally have good safety characteristics. Safety needs to be a paramount concern when it comes to energy storage systems. Molten salt batteries excel in this aspect due to their inherent design. These batteries use metal electrodes and a molten salt electrolyte, which eliminates the risk of thermal runaway or explosions associated with some other battery chemistries. The materials used in molten salt batteries are non-flammable and non-toxic, making them inherently safe and reliable. The fact that molten salt batteries use non-flammable and non-toxic salts, further enhances their safety profile.
Categories: Battery Storage -
Radial Renewable Energy Park at Yarram Sawmill

GridEdge is currently involved in a project to create a Renewable Energy Park at the Radial Timbers Sawmill in Yarram.
The project will establish a “Bioenergy Cell” that incorporates the GridEdge SoNick Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and The Earth Systems Charmaker Pyrolysis Unit and solar installations.
Stage 1 of the Renewable Energy will be the installation of 2 installations of 100kW solar & 90 kWh battery storage on each of the 2 mills at Radial timber.
The battery installations are using 4 x 620V SoNick batteries in a SoNick Zebra container. Each battery installation is supported by an ELPower 100 KW PCS (power conditioning system).

-
SoNick – the ESG battery

ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) is a term that is often used by ethical investors to evaluate a company’s sustainable and ethical performance when they are investigating the long term investability of a company.
A crucial part of our new energy transition is the usage of batteries to store energy, either as backup power, to stabilize the grid or in EV’s. This transition will involve trade-offs and by adhering to ESG principles companies can make sure their governance covers factors that make sure that the net result of this transition is positive from the environment and social angles.
Categories: ESG Battery -

You Must Do your Homework before purchasing energy storage batteries

One of the biggest problems with the efforts to use renewable energy to produce large amounts of the energy consumed on a daily basis has been its inability to reliably supply power at the times it is most needed. This can and will be addressed more commonly in the future with the installation of battery systems that allow households and businesses to store renewable energy for use in peak periods.
This avoids the need to use the power when you are buying it from the grid at a much higher cost.
With an energy storage battery you can utilise the majority of the output of your solar system and minimise these expensive evening electricity rates.
This is definitely a market that is set to thrive in 2023 and following years, however not all batteries are the same. Most battery suppliers won’t tell you the downside of their batteries and will only tell you the things that are most likely to sell their batteries, so you need to ask questions and compare batteries.
Categories: Battery Storage -
SoNick batteries perform outstandingly even in one of the hottest regions of the Earth

#SMC batteries perform outstandingly even in one of the hottest regions of the Earth!
As part of a joint activity with the end user, 32 modules of SMC batteries (272kWh) installed outdoor in Saudi Arabia have been constantly monitored during the summer period.
Background:
👉July 2020-December 2021: batteries remained at stock for 17 months before the installation (no refresh charge necessary).
👉December 2021: installed in an outdoor shelter without Air Conditioning and ventilation.
👉January 2022–today: monthly capacity tests were performed to check for any energy variation.
FZSoNick Group are glad to share the excellent results achieved so far.If you would like to know more about getting safe, non-flammable, reliable, recyclable, SoNick (molten salt) battery storage for your own home, business or micro-grid application in Australia visit us at https://gridedge.au/advantages-of-sonick-battery…/
-
Advantages of SoNick battery for installations
Below is a summary of some of the differences between the SoNick battery and other battery technologies.

SoNick will not catch fire
The SoNick battery cannot catch fire or explode. It is the only chemistry UL9540A certified for safety from thermal runaway. This means no risk of fire or explosion, even in the presence of external fire.
All lithium-ion batteries have the potential to catch fire. Depending on the particular lithium-ion technology and safety features included with the battery, the ignition point may change, i.e. the ignition point for lithium ion phosphate is higher than that for lithium manganese cobalt.
If a battery installation is situated next to a building and the battery catches fire it is quite possible for the whole building to be burnt as a result of the difficulties associated with extinguishing lithium-ion fires. Also, when lithium batteries catch fire toxic fumes are given off.
SoNick capacity doesn’t degrade over service life
The SoNick battery doesn’t degrade over its service life. After 10 years you should still be operating at your original capacity.
Categories: Battery Storage -
Using your SoNick battery, energy storage system in winter

During summer, when you have an energy storage system on your house, as long as it is sized correctly and you have enough solar PV, you should always be able to fill your batteries to full capacity on a daily basis. You will probably generate excess electricity and export it to the grid, although you will rarely be paid enough to justify this as a useful use of your green energy production system.
In summer, you can generally just ignore your energy storage system and it will cover as much of your power needs as you have designed the system to provide.
However, in winter the situation changes as the hours of solar generation decrease and the sun is lower in the sky, so often produces less PV generation on your solar panels. This is particularly relevant when you have several days in a row of rainy and / or cloudy weather with little to no PV generation. In order to maximise the solar PV available and get the most use from your batteries it may be a good idea to change the way your battery is utilised.
Instead of only filling your battery from solar which is the cheapest and most environmentally friendly way to fill a household battery you can fill it using off-peak power then using the battery system to provide electricity to your house during peak power usage times, often 3 – 9pm each day. Not as good as charging the battery with the sun but better than paying peak electricity rates.
-
Electric bus battery explosion fires
As the world moves towards electrifying the transport system with the utilisation of electric cars, scooters, busses, trains etc. we need to make sure we take into account the inherent dangers of lithium-ion batteries.
It is not uncommon for lithium-ion batteries to catch fire while charging whether they are in phones, computers, work tools, house batteries or electric vehicles. There are many instances of houses and businesses being burnt due to these fires.
One of the issues with lithium-ion battery fires is the temperatures the fire will quickly get to (excess of 1000oC) and the speed with which the fire will spread to anything adjoining it. The biggest issue is that fire brigades are unable to easily extinguish a lithium-ion battery fire. All they can really do is protect surrounding assets to prevent the fire spreading.

6 buses destroyed in UK 230522 – 2 were electric – https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10842785/Bus-explodes-Potters-Bar-bus-garage-engulfed-flames-six-vehicles-damaged-fire.html. 2 electric and 4 non-electric busses were destroyed. Believed to have started in one lithium-ion battery exploding while being charged. Fire quickly destroyed that bus and spread to adjoining busses and busses were alight within minutes when firemen arrived. Plumes of toxic smoke could be seen 18 kilometres away. Onlookers likened the ‘unbelievable noise’ to that of an explosion. There were no reported injuries.
Categories: Battery fire
Recent Posts
- Rural property using SoNick batteries for grid independence – Domestic Case Study
- The case for decentralised power proven after storm power outages
- The issue with new battery technologies
- Recycling costs to be added to purchase cost of renewable energy storage batteries – new Australian legislation coming.
- Protect yourself and prepare for power outages in coming bushfire season
Categories
- Battery degradation
- Battery fire
- Battery recycling
- Battery safety
- Battery Size
- Battery Storage
- Battery temperatures
- Bioenergy
- Case Study
- Climate change
- Electric bus
- Energy efficient building
- Energy storage
- ESG Battery
- Life Cycle Analysis – LCA
- non-flammable battery
- Off grid
- peak demand charges
- Portable energy storage
- Power security
- Renewable Energy
- Sustainability Trailer
