The Vanadium Redox Battery/VRB or Flow Battery and its Benefits

Clean energy storage devices hold the key. The VRB battery,
which stands for vanadium redox battery, is a technology
which is being described by many as "showing some real
promise in stabilizing energy distribution in renewable
systems" (well sphere.com). This battery, which is not what
we typically think of when we hear the word, will help
store and deliver power to the energy grid. Right now, many
of the problems being faced by those who would prefer a
switch to renewable power sources includes storage of the
collected energy especially for the peak times, or those
times when the demand is at its highest. Solar power is
collected during the day, but without a way to store it, it
is not of any use at night when we need our lights to see
or want to relax in front of the television for the evening.

Other methods of storing or creating energy have been used,
including hydroelectric energy where water is used to
create electricity and then pumped back uphill and into
reservoirs during off peak periods. "Another method that
has gained some recognition in the past is with compressed
air." (well sphere 2008) While these methods may be good
ideas, building a huge hydroelectric facility is not going
to be cost effective in every area of the country.
Batteries as energy storage will still remain in the
forefront as the most widely accepted and probably the most
cost effective method that is in development up to this
point.

The element vanadium, which was discovered in the 19th
century and named for the Norse goddess Vanadis (goddess of
youth, love, and beauty), was first used in a project with
NASA and flow batteries. The flow battery is a simple
concept with complex formulations: liquid electrolytes are
pumped from external tanks to a cell stack. Each cell stack
contains a different elemental form of vanadium/sulfuric
acid. Ions are exchanged through the charge/discharge cycle
after traveling through a hydrogen-ion polymer membrane.
(Wellsphere.org 2008)

In simple English: a flow battery has outer tanks and an
inner cell. The flow of the solution (in this case vanadium
and sulfuric acid) travels into the cell and interacts with
what is there. Ions switch from positive to negative or
negative to positive and energy is then produced or stored
until needed, as in during peak times.