An accidental discovery from researchers at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has led to the development of the next-generation flow battery that can set new records in large-scale energy storage, TechXplore reported.

Flow batteries are an alternate method of energy storage where two separate liquid electrolytes are used and separated by a membrane. Unlike the solid-state batteries that largely make the news these days, flow batteries have two external tanks of liquid electrolytes and can be scaled up to the size of football fields to store large amounts of energy.

With the world turning to renewable sources to meet its energy demands, there is also a need for giant energy storage solutions to support the grid when solar panels or wind turbines do not generate any power. Flow batteries can offer low-cost energy storage options and do not need rare minerals.

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