DARTMOUTH, Nova Scotia, Oct. 19, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Salient Energy (“Salient”), a company developing zinc-ion batteries for stationary energy storage systems (ESS), announced today that it has successfully completed UL9540A safety testing with Underwriters Laboratories (UL) for its proprietary zinc-ion energy storage battery. This rigorous testing showed that zinc-ion cells neither experience thermal runaway nor produce toxic or explosive gasses even when subjected to extreme heat, puncture or overcharging. Salient’s batteries are the first zinc-ion cells to achieve these rigorous standards. This represents a significant step forward in the commercialization of Salient’s safe, affordable, and sustainably built batteries.
UL9540A tests ESS safety by first determining whether the ESS uses batteries that introduce a risk of fire or explosion. If so, the test then determines whether safety features integrated into the pack and system sufficiently mitigate these risks. As confirmed by the UL9540A results, Salient’s water-based battery is fundamentally incapable of causing the catastrophic failures that occur in lithium-ion based systems. Since zinc-ion batteries are the only non-lithium batteries that can match lithium-ion performance with the same compact design, Salient’s technology represents the only drop-in replacement that can remove safety risks in existing ESS designs.
“Solving climate change requires wide-scale deployment of energy storage this decade, but this won’t be possible if energy systems keep erupting in flames and emitting toxic gases,” said Ryan Brown, CEO of Salient Energy. “The industry urgently needs to switch to safe batteries to maintain the public’s enthusiasm for installing batteries in their homes and neighborhoods.”
Zinc-ion batteries achieve this improved safety by using raw materials that are different from those used in lithium-ion batteries. In addition to being safer, zinc-ion materials are far more abundant. Current shortages in key battery materials like lithium have led to rising costs and long delivery times in the ESS industry. Zinc-ion batteries are made primarily from zinc and manganese, which are both produced in abundance in North America.
The completion of UL testing follows Salient’s recent announcement of a partnership with Horton World Solutions to qualify Salient’s energy storage system for installation into its sustainably built homes. Legislative tailwinds, including the Inflation Reduction Act, are accelerating market demand for energy storage. As the U.S. seeks to transition rapidly to powering the grid through wind, solar and other renewable energy sources, energy storage availability must match these generation advancements step-by-step. Consumer tax credits and government funding for research and innovation are expected to lift demand and production across the board in the clean energy industry.
Salient is primed to scale up battery production as demand for energy storage soars.
About Salient Energy
Salient Energy is a producer of zinc-ion batteries for applications in the electrical grid. The Company’s proprietary cathode materials store energy in zinc in a way that has never been commercialized before, allowing the batteries to have a high energy density and to use traditional battery designs that are compatible with standard manufacturing equipment. Salient Energy’s zinc-ion batteries are cheaper, safer and longer-lasting than anything else on the market. Learn more: https://salientenergy.ca/
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