Two years ago, sodium-ion battery pioneer Natron Energy was busy preparing its specially formulated sodium batteries for mass production. The company slipped a little past its 2023 kickoff plans, but it didn't fall too far behind as far as mass battery production goes. It officially commenced…
Since they say they’re putting them out from 48V to 800V, 48V is what most inverter systems use, so I imagine they’re targetting that size for “consumers” at the single-house PV system size. If the cycle counts and low temperature charging characteristics come true, they will be popular.
American manufacturers like this like to shoot themselves in the foot by pricing their new and innovative battery technology at the datacenter customer size, find out they have no market, use up all their capital, then sell the tech to a big Chinese company like BYD or CATL. So once they’ve complete this lifecycle, I’d expect a couple more years before they’re readily available to actual consumers. Probably expect to see them then at about LFP prices, like $90/kWh wholesale price.
https://diysolarforum.com/threads/upcoming-sodium-ion-batteries.61679/
48 volts is also what telecom uses in their infrastructure. That’s a much bigger market (and one with deeper pockets) than consumer installs.
Then why bother putting the article here? Who out of us is going to actually care. I’m looking to expand the storage on my off-grid property and I would absolutely love something other than lithium especially if it can get cheaper per kilowatt hour. I got five acres to work with so I really don’t care about the density just needs a decent cycle life and price
Because it’s interesting regardless of whether I can buy it or not?
I watch reviews on computer hardware that I definitely can’t afford, because it’s interesting.
Thats great that you are looking for alternatives, but you aren’t the only reader here.
Other people have other interests and are looking fir different things than you are.
It’s a great development that we should keep our eyes on, as some years into the future it will most certainly be available for regular consumers, including you with your install.