ReFlex - Battery for Commercial, Industrial and Utility-Scale Energy Storage
ReFlex™ is our unique and sustainable battery, for commercial, industrial and utility-scale energy storage. It is a modular product, that can be scaled from 10 kilowatt to 100 megawatt. ReFlex™ is a Vanadium Flow Battery (VFB) for stationary energy storage. A multi-million-dollar development programme resulted in this unique and patented product. With close to 1,000,000 hours of highly reliable grid connected performance it is now ready for commercial roll-out.
Basics of Flow Batteries
Flow Batteries store electricity in liquid electrolyte, instead of in solid electrodes as most other batteries do. This eliminates capacity fade and allows storage capacity to be matched directly to customer energy needs.
We use Vanadium, an abundant metal that can even be ‘harvested’ from industrial waste, to make our aqueous electrolyte. ReFlex™ is therefore a Vanadium Flow Battery (VFB) that is completely non-flammable with no risk of thermal runaway.
The battery consists of a power stack and two circulating electrolyte solutions that are separated by an ion-exchange membrane as they pass through the stack. The Nafion™ membrane in ReFlex™ is produced by one of our partners, Chemours.
The energy conversion from electrical energy to chemical energy (charge) and vice versa (discharge) occurs instantly within the power stack as positive and negative overpotentials are applied. Learn more about the tough development journey of our ReFlex™ battery in this article written by one of our founders, dr Z. Gary Yang.
200% ENERGY DENSITY & CAPACITY
200% ENERGY DENSITY & CAPACITY
Our breakthrough patented electrolyte has more than double the energy density of traditional Vanadium Flow Batteries (VFBs). This high electrolyte capacity has enabled patented compact design elements within ReFlex™ for an unrivalled deployed footprint of 20kWh/m2 including aisle space.
ReFlex™ is based on patented and award-winning scientific breakthroughs in Vanadium electrochemistry which resulted in an electrolyte that provides double the energy density and capacity compared to other VFBs. The ReFlex™ design is the result of dozens of field-proven production innovations. This makes our product simply the world’s best stationary battery for durable, deep cycle, long duration applications.
UNLIMITED CYCLES
Even if the battery is kept for a continuous period at 0% state of charge (SOC) without maintenance charges – for example during a site build-out, there is no negative impact on the expected life span or number of cycles that the battery can make.
0% CAPACITY FADE
The ReFlex™ electrolyte is so stable that it is able to operate through an unlimited number of cycles without requiring maintenance (i.e. mixing of the electrolyte) and it does not lose its capacity or energy density. This significantly increases the value of ReFlex™ as a sustainable asset with a long life-span of 25 years.
0% THERMAL RUNAWAY & NON-FLAMMABLE ELECTROLYTE
The patented aqueous electrolyte in combination with the inherent safety of flow batteries ensures sufficient thermal mass to intrinsically eliminate the possibility of thermal runaway. ReFlex™ batteries are built with the highest material integrity and thermal tests proven safe even under direct short circuit conditions.
Rigorous inhouse and microgrid testing over thousands of cycles, short-circuit testing, series and parallel validation, vibration testing and tilt testing have confirmed the safety of our innovative design. ReFlex™ is specifically designed to operate in harsh environments and conditions, while meeting necessary safety, performance and environmental requirements.
100% RECYCLABLE & REUSABLE
Our advanced electrolyte is immutable in the ReFlex™ product, yielding indefinite life. This means that, at the end of the economic life of a battery or project, the electrolyte can be continuously reused in another battery without losing its capacity. Virtually all other components of the ReFlex™ battery can be recycled, making our battery truly sustainable.
2X LOWER COST OF OWNERSHIP
Strong international collaboration with partners and customers has sparked the innovation and development needed to commercialise a cost effective, flexible and long-lived advanced Vanadium flow battery. ReFlex™ can provide demand charge reduction, peak shaving, renewable integration, ramping, frequency and voltage regulation and microgrid support. In this way, your battery is no longer a cost, but a way to earn money. Its longevity, combined with low maintenance requirements make ReFlex™ up to 3 times more cost competitive per kWh stored, compared to other batteries such as Lithium-ion.
TESTING
Our batteries have been tested extensively through thousands of cycles. Here are some of the impressive results. Independent third-party tests validate these results.
ReFlex™ has been tested more than any other flow battery model. Smart design decisions to meet NFPA 855, UL1973 and other proven industry standards reflect decades of customer-driven partnerships and field experience that hit the technology sweet-spot. ReFlex™ is produced in semi-automated and fully computerized ISO9001 & ISO14001 rated facilities.
All ReFlex™ deployed to date with almost 1,000,000 hours of operation remain fully available, with the longest systems operating for almost two years. ReFlex™ is the only vanadium flow battery product design for series installation and including seamless bypass feature to increase system-level availability 150X over containerized designs.
Series-connected ReFlex™ autonomously work together to maintain uniform state of charge with patent-pending no-loss state of charge (SOC) matching technology. Rather than using resistors or overcharging to force charge alignment, this no-loss capacity alignment is key to optimal long-term capacity without rest periods.
Comprehensive charge and discharge characterizations for different use cases have validated the flexibility of ReFlex™ to adapt to customer needs. The ideal number of ReFlex™ modules can be easily deployed to match virtually any application requirement.
Mechanical integrity of ReFlex™ was proven by 3rd party testing on a hydraulic shaker table. A production ReFlex™ endured 5G testing through all resonant-frequencies for a full hour. ReFlex™ has also passed tilt-testing to 45° in all directions.
Rigorous 100% discharge testing of a 4 times larger stack, validated zero capacity fade for 3,400 cycles. Detailed materials analysis substantiated no chemical, electrochemical, or mechanical degradation mechanisms.
To prove our battery presents no risk of thermal runaway, we short circuited a fully charged stack. This resulted in a temperature change of just 9°C. Further, 3rd party testing by DNV GL demonstrated the electrolyte is entirely non-flammable. This gives ReFlex™ over flammable storage solutions as some are already being banned in populated areas due to fire and toxic gas hazards. Fire departments classify Lithium-ion fires as defensive fires that cannot be extinguished with the goal being to limit collateral damage. These hazards multiply as storage system capacities increase.
ReFlex™ is designed to proven NFPA 855, UL1973 and other proven industry standards to ensure resiliency, and to simplify system design, production, installation and O&M.
Usage
A BATTERY THAT MEETS YOUR NEEDS
By design, ReFlex™ is a modular product which makes it suitable for a wide range of use cases. Ranging from microgrids and commercial & industrial applications to grid-level integration. Click on the infographic below to find out how ReFlex™ can be integrated to suit your needs.
A single ReFlex™ module delivers 10kW/40kWh ...
A single ReFlex™ module delivers 10kW/40kWh at 48V and serves as a ‘building block’ to meet your specific storage requirements. ReFlex™ can be scaled from 10kW to 100MW. ReFlex™ has been designed for commercial and industrial application, as well as grid-scale usage by utilities or microgrids.
Modules can be arranged in parallel and series to meet your site-specific voltage, footprint, and integration needs. Up to 25 ReFlex™ can be connected in series (a ‘string’) to match higher DC voltage requirements of modern power conversion equipment for example in the PV industry. And with no risk of thermal runaway, all ReFlex™ units can be stacked efficiently like books on a shelf for a compact electricity warehouse!
The modular design also offers flexibility. As your stationary power needs change, ReFlex™ can grow at the same pace. Additional ReFlex™ modules can be added to existing series installations without need for batching due to the autonomous no-loss matching technology.
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