Who is Horen salt battery solutions?

Enabling Transition | HORIEN Salt Battery Solutions, former FZSoNick, is the world's first player to offer a safe & fully sustainable energy storage & backup solution: from raw material sourcing, zero environmental emissions, absence of toxic materials, to maximum component recyclability.

What is a salt battery?

Image: Empa Originally developed for electric cars, nowadays they supply mobile phone antennas with electricity, and tomorrow perhaps entire districts: The salt battery is a safe and long-lasting battery technology with huge potential. Empa researchers are collaborating with an industrial partner to further develop these special batteries.

Can salt batteries be used for stationary storage?

After all, their safety, long service life and avoidance of critical raw materials would make salt batteries ideal for stationary storage. If salt batteries can be produced cheaply and in large quantities, they could one day provide electricity not only to mobile phone antennas but to entire residential areas.

Are salt batteries safe?

For example in terms of safety: Although salt batteries need an operating temperature of around 300° Celsius, they can neither burn nor explode. This is why they are also used in places where lithium-ion batteries are not even permitted, such as in mining and tunnel construction and on offshore oil and gas production platforms.

Could molten salt batteries be replaced by zinc?

As part of the EU project SOLSTICE, which runs until mid-2025, HORIEN and Empa, together with other project partners, are investigating whether the nickel in molten salt batteries could even be replaced entirely by zinc. "The low melting point of zinc is a challenge at the current operating temperature," says Meike Heinz.

How does a salt battery work?

The cathode of a salt battery is based on granules of common salt and nickel powder; the sodium metal anode is only formed during charging. For electromobility, this battery technology has not proven to be the best solution. Today’s electric cars run on lithium-ion batteries, which are lighter and quicker to charge.