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It is dishonest to pretend batteries are the only viable storage method.


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There is absolutely no need for batteries to provide for storage, so that is a misleading assertion.

A battery is very literally power storage. That's its only purpose.

Mentioning batteries can only distract from sensible discussion, because only the tiniest fraction of utility-scale storage will ever be batteries.

Batteries are not feasible economically or capacity wise.

"Batteries" is not an energy source.

I hope you aren't making the assumption that storage = batteries, then arguing because weeks and months of batteries would be needed, it's impossibly expensive.

How many of us have phones and laptops with batteries built into them?

Sadly there are no reasonable alternatives. We're funnelled into this mindset/system.


It's difficult to see any of the alternatives displacing batteries for short-term storage. Batteries aren't a good fit for long-term storage, which is where alternatives should be competitive. But that market is essentially 0 right now.

> can't do it at home safely with about 5 seconds of effort, you will never beat conventionally charged batteries

As the article points out, conventional batteries are a logistical nightmare on a battlefield.


Batteries are actually terrible at storing large amount of energy for any significant period of time, otherwise this would be the solution everywhere

Batteries are always the most expensive storage. You use those where round-trip efficiency matters more than cost.

Batteries are the most expensive storage alternative.

There are myriad other, cheaper methods. India will use many of them, in different places and scales.


They're pushing for both really. The real mistake is to go all in on batteries without ever considering any alternatives.

Batteries are just chemicals

Batteries are systems, not just cells.

There is no practical impact on modern batteries from being constantly connected to power.

He's probably thinking of the cost of batteries needed for seasonal storage, but it's hard to tell. Using batteries that way would be foolish, of course.

Counter example: LiPo phone batteries

Another option is to simply repurpose old batteries to stationary storage applications. Even if it’s only holding a five percent charge, who cares if they’re just sitting in a building somewhere.
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