The growing importance of wind- and solar-generated energy makes one thing quite clear – a large proportion of our electricity will be generated from fluctuating and decentralized sources in future. Home owners in possession of a photovoltaic system will already be familiar with the inherent stumbling block – that this cost-free solar energy from the roof is almost inevitably most needed when it’s not to be had. To meet their domestic energy needs, users therefore need a suitable form of energy storage to release their solar-generated electricity at a later point. While various storage technologies are already available on the market, it is only now that scientists from the EWE-Forschungszentrum NEXT ENERGY have managed to develop the very safe vanadium redox flow battery for cost-efficient use in domestic energy storage systems. On the brink of its market launch, the team from Oldenburg is exhibiting its ResiFlow concept in the Lower Saxony Pavilion in Hall 2 at HANNOVER MESSE 2016.

The key to this small-scale use of vanadium redox flow technology is the innovative new sealing concept developed by the scientists from Lower Saxony. "This crucial technical innovation enables us not only to considerably simplify the manufacturing of the central converter unit, but also to reduce the unit’s dimensions and weight," says project manager Jan grosse Austing. He expects the technology to generate healthy demand on the market, particularly among private householders with photovoltaic systems who wish to increase the amount of self-generated electricity they use – but also for use in larger-scale energy storage systems for residential districts with photovoltaic systems or by agricultural businesses. This broad range of application is served by the system’s modular design, which enables customized applications to meet every conceivable customer requirement.

NEXT ENERGY – EWE-Forschungszentrum für Energietechnologie e.V. (26129 Oldenburg, Germany), Hall 27, Stand D57