Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC
National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University have designed a
low-cost, long-life battery that could enable solar and wind energy to become
major suppliers to the electrical grid.
"For solar and wind power to be used in a significant
way, we need a battery made of economical materials that are easy to scale and
still efficient," said Yi Cui, a Stanford associate professor of materials
science and engineering and a member of the Stanford Institute for Materials
and Energy Sciences, a SLAC/Stanford joint institute. "We believe our new
battery may be the best yet designed to regulate the natural fluctuations of
these alternative energies."