Iron-Salt Battery the Future of Low Cost Energy Storage

Renewable energy is increasingly contributing to global power demands. During periods of excess generation there is a significant challenge, storing all that energy? Futhermore, how is electricity accessed when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing? A startup called Inlyte Energy believes it has found the answer by going back to iron-salt battery designs from the 1980s.

A Forgotten Iron-Salt Battery Gets a Second Chance

Inlyte Energy’s founder, Antonio Baclig, spent eight years researching iron-salt battery designs while at Stanford University. Instead of inventing something new from scratch, he found a promising option.

Originally developed by Beta Research in the UK, this type of battery used iron and table salt to store energy. It was once tested for use in electric vehicles but shelved in favor of higher energy density options like nickel-based batteries. At the time, the world wanted smaller, more powerful batteries for cars not big, affordable ones for storing renewable energy.

Fast forward to today, and energy priorities have shifted. We now need cheap, safe, and long-lasting batteries that can help balance the grid not just power cars. That’s why Baclig teamed up with Beta Research to bring the iron-salt battery back, this time focused on grid storage.

Why Iron-Salt Batteries Beat Lithium for Grid Storage

Today’s battery world is dominated by lithium-ion technology, which works well for phones, laptops, and even electric vehicles. But for storing large amounts of energy over long periods, it has some big downsides:

• Expensive to scale up
• Flammable materials
• Heavy reliance on overseas supply chains, especially China

In contrast, Inlyte’s iron-salt battery has some major advantages:

• It’s made from abundant, low-cost materials like iron and salt.
• It’s non-flammable, which lowers safety risks.
• It uses a simple ceramic tube design, making manufacturing easier and cheaper.
• It offers round-trip efficiency, energy in vs. energy out comparable to lithium-ion batteries.

From Pilot Project to Powering the Future

Inlyte recently landed its first major test an 80-kilowatt/1.5 megawatt hour pilot project with Southern Company, one of the largest utility providers in the southeastern U.S.

The battery system will be installed near Birmingham, Alabama, and tested over the next year. If successful, it could lead to bigger utility contracts and prove that iron-salt technology works outside the lab.

Meanwhile, Inlyte is preparing to build a U.S. factory to scale production at a fraction of the cost of a lithium-ion plant. It’s also targeting data centers, which need clean, reliable backup power as they expand. With clean energy demand rising and pressure mounting to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, Inlyte’s modern take on the iron-salt battery could be a game-changer.

EcoCentricNow Supports Clean Energy Solutions

EcoCentricNow LLC (ECN) supports the development of technologies that result in clean energy solutions. We support electricity use reduction by distributing an assortment of interior and exterior LED property lighting. ECN’s mission is to promote environmental stewardship by distributing well-designed, long-lasting, energy-efficient LED lighting products and supplies that foster ecological sustainability and human well-being.

References
Solar Power Revolution. A Paradigm Shift in Renewable Energy Tech.
Are iron-flow batteries the solution to variable renewables?
Could this 1980s battery design unlock long-term clean energy storage?