One of the co-founders of The Tetris Company, Henk Rogers has launched a new battery that stores more solar energy than Tesla’s Powerwall. After reading about the destruction of coral, Rogers, who helped turn Tetris into a worldwide phenomenon, started Blue Planet Energy to help end dependency on fossil fuels. The company’s Blue Ion Continuum battery produces more energy than the Powerwall, and it is reportedly made of sturdier stuff.
A heart attack changed the focus of Rogers’ life. A successful video game entrepreneur, he read about the devastating effects of carbon dioxide-fueled ocean acidification on coral while recovering in the hospital. The article inspired his mission “to end the use of carbon-based fuel.” Frustrated by the government’s slow movement on the issue, he realized better energy storage could help things along. He said, “Wind and solar have become commodities, they’re so cheap, and yet battery is still a luxury.”
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The eight kilowatt-hour Blue Ion Continuum battery is a potential game-changer. Not only does it allow for more energy storage than the 6.4 kilowatt-hour Powerwall, it’s made of better materials, according to Rogers. Blue Ion Continuum batteries run on Sony’s lithium ferrous phosphate batteries. The Powerwall runs on lithium cobalt manganese batteries. According to Rogers, phosphate and iron are “cheap and benign” while cobalt and manganese are “expensive and dangerous.”
Blue Ion Continuum’s warranty is better too. After 15 years, the warranty says the Blue Ion Continuum will still have 75 percent capacity. The Powerwall warranty is 10 years. The Blue Ion Continuum is more expensive than the Powerwall – it will run homeowners $12,950, not including installation – but because the battery’s warranty is longer, Blue Energy Planet says overall “lifecycle costs” for their battery will end up being less than the Powerwall.
The eight kilowatt-hour battery will provide storage for a three-person family, but families can purchase more units that fit together almost like Tetris blocks from Blue Planet Energy. Their Power Up unit offers 12 kilowatt-hours, and their Power All unit offers 24 kilowatt-hours. The units stack together to easily provide more power.
Homeowners can preorder the Blue Ion Continuum now, and should receive the battery in early 2017.
Via Greentech Media
Images via Blue Planet Energy Facebook
from Inhabitat - Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green BuildingInhabitat – Green Design, Innovation, Architecture, Green Building http://ift.tt/2cWswBA
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