Graphene, the thinner, lighter, faster battery that will revolutionise building

As more properties across Australia convert to green energy, more solutions are being developed to solve renewables’ biggest challenge: storage.

Solar energy, which makes up around a quarter of energy generation in Australia, relies heavily on effective batteries.

Battery technology has relied on lithium, which has disadvantages. Lithium is a precious metal that’s not easy to mine (plus, 90% of the world’s reserves are in China which could cause supply issues). Toxic leaks and fire risks also make batteries an environmental hazard. On top of that, the average photovoltaic solar system outlasts a lithium battery.

Now that could all be about to change.

Several Australian companies are leading the way in developing an alternative to lithium-ion batteries, using graphene.

What is graphene?

Graphene is a lightweight compound described as the “wonder material of the age“. It is the thinnest and strongest material known to science.

Discovered in 2004, this compound is a single layer of carbon atoms, tightly bound in a hexagonal honeycomb lattice making it 200 times stronger than steel.

It conducts heat and electricity more efficiently than copper and silver and is about to be manufactured in Australia from waste products such as recycled plastics and bio-waste.

These new batteries – which can be used for home electronics, cars and buildings – promise to last longer, be safer, cleaner, more affordable, and 100% recyclable at the end of their lives.

Brisbane-based Zero Emissions Developments is developing batteries for residential and commercial property use. The company claims its PowerCap Hybrid Graphene battery is a sustainable energy storage system that lasts two to three times longer than standard lithium batteries.

It also provides up to 10 times more power density meaning energy is delivered instantly.

ZED’s chief executive and principal engineer Ahmed El Safty and his team have been developing the technology for more than a decade.

Carinity Aged Care has reported a seamless transition and lower bills since installing the graphene batteries. Picture: ZED Energy

The batteries have been tested in a few places already, including a school and an aged care business in Queensland, along with a factory in Saudi Arabia.

“We’ve been trialling that system for a while. And it’s been providing some really good results,” Mr El Safty said.

“We’ve had a 90% reduction in electricity bills.”

ZED says the PowerCap is intended to capture renewable energy and store it for later use – ideal for collecting solar power on a building during the day and using it at night, for example.

“Renewable energy storage – providing energy reliability – has been our biggest barrier to transition for some time,” Mr El Safty said. “As we move towards a greater reliance on renewables, the need for reliable energy storage becomes paramount.”

Associate Professor Rebecca Yang from RMIT’s Solar Energy Application Lab said graphene batteries had two big advantages over lithium batteries that would appeal to commercial building owners.

One was fire safety with graphene batteries helping reduce the risk of fires associated with lithium batteries.

“Battery fire safety is a major concern from building surveyors and regulatory bodies,” Prof Yang said.

The other major advantage was their higher capacity. “Commercial building owners would be interested to see this advantage,” she said.

“Also nowadays, more and more commercial buildings look for solutions to integrate photovoltaic (PV) on both roof and façade – so-called BIPV. Graphene batteries plus larger PV systems on site would be a good solution for flexible demand management.”

Aged care and education provider Carinity in Queensland has been trialling a solar system using the new batteries supplied by ZED.

Executive manager for business and development Peter Lamberth said the transition had so far been seamless as Carinity moved toward taking its entire business off-grid.

“Eight aged care communities and two schools now operate with photovoltaic solar power systems, providing 30% of daily power demand – the maximum solar power generation possible,” he said.

He said there had been no issue with retrofitting buildings to accommodate the new system.

“For sites which already have some solar panels … those panels will remain in situ and simply be added to with additional panels, sufficient to take the site ‘off grid’, together with batteries to cater for the load needed overnight,” he said.