Characteristics of an Indigenously Developed 1 KW Vanadium Redox Flow Battery Stack

Efficient and high-power electrical energy storage is a key technology to harness renewable sources of energy. Vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) systems have emerged as strong contenders for large-scale energy storage applications. The paper presents the characteristics of an indigenously developed 1 kW VRFB stack of two designs. The fabrication of stack was preceded by a large amount of cell-level studies; important characteristics of interest to a design engineer such as materials of construction, cell sizes, operating conditions, power, charge/discharge capacity, energy efficiency and cycling behaviour are reported here. The project aims to develop eventually a 5 kW/25 kWh redox flow battery system capable of drawing electrical power from solar PV panels or the main grid, as necessary, and deliver uninterrupted power to a community of mixed DC/AC users.