sodium or lithium cells

[hrchonda]

is it time to buy sodium cells instead of lithium?

at a quick glance, cost wise sodium 220ah cells seem to be a little cheaper compared to lithium 280's. link i found below,

weight wise, while it would add up building big banks, especially with sodium cells having reduced capacity. its not a mind blowing difference.
220ah sodium 4.5kg per cell
280ah lithium 5.35KG per cell

PROS
sodium has that extra layer of safety with no flammable electrolyte
charging at low temps -30C
3C to 5C discharging
and ability to discharge to zero volts without damaging the battery

CONS
has a reduced cycle count
voltage range doesn't match current equipment well

whats everyones views? is there pros and cons i dont know about?

cheers

Alibaba.com

www.alibaba.com

 

[David in nh]

is it time to buy sodium cells instead of lithium?

at a quick glance, cost wise sodium 220ah cells seem to be a little cheaper compared to lithium 280's. link i found below,

weight wise, while it would add up building big banks, especially with sodium cells having reduced capacity. its not a mind blowing difference.
220ah sodium 4.5kg per cell
280ah lithium 5.35KG per cell

sodium has that extra layer of safety with no flammable electrolyte

whats everyones views? is there pros and cons i dont know about?

cheers

Alibaba.com

www.alibaba.com

did you look into any problems you may have with voltages ?

 

[gotbeans]

Sodium are brand new so no. For the average person it's not better unless you're unable to heat lifepo4

Sodium batteries will be great for humanity as a whole. I hope to see a lot of these multi square mile / square km fields of batteries start to use them as space isn't so much of a concern etc.
They lack a lot of rare metals used in lithium batteries... not just the lithium but other metals of several lithium type chemistries. So it's easier to gather materials.

Will give a good use for all of the desalination plants we'll inevitably need with the droughts everywhere.

But no I wouldn't use them as they currently are. It's the same cost for less capacity, why do that to yourself?
It maybe makes sense on multi-million dollar scale, and it'll make more sense in 5 years when they'll probably be cheaper.

 

[JäseH]

The voltage range and cycle life are problematic. But I expect we'll see substantial improvements in the next few years.

 

[gotbeans]

The voltage range and cycle life are problematic. But I expect we'll see substantial improvements in the next few years.

the voltage range is actually awesome because measuring their capacity left will be extremely easy
current devices just aren't built with that range in mind

 

[billvon]

is it time to buy sodium cells instead of lithium?

Nope. Voltage range isn't compatible with most inverters right now.

 

[OffGridForGood]

I bought two, a 12v and 24v x 100Ah factory Soduim pack - to try them out and see how they do.
So far they are working exactly like the LFP packs, with no noticable performance difference, however I have been using them only a short while so far. The low temperature aspect are my main interest.

Each of these packs were built with BT locked BMS's (I can't change the settings, but can see them, and individual cell voltages) so far all good.
For my set up, the voltage limits may not be too far beyond the Inverter range; I am running them on MPP1012 and MPP2724 models in mobile set up.
As others have noted, these are new products, likely improvements will be coming, I like how they work so far. I am sure we will begin to see more posts about them. Being heavier than LFP, they are unlikely a good EV option, but could be great stationary ESS, especially as cost reduces. Seem to solve some of the issues with Lithium sources.

The packs I have do not recommend -30C operating temps, they say -20C and on the upper limit far higher temps than LFP, spec sheet shows 55 to 60 C 131F = should be of interest instead of A/C for the guys in hot locale.
However even being able to run a battery in -10 to -15C is a big difference for me, than being limited to 0C as LFP are. If low temp operation is important it may be worth trying some out. If no-one buys any, we will not learn anything.