California-based startup Inlyte Energy has announced that its iron-sodium chemistry has demonstrated stable cycling in commercial-size cells, proving its readiness for scale-up.
The technology leverages the design of the sodium metal chloride battery and relies on abundantly available iron and sodium (table salt). Inlyte prides on the technology’s dual utilization, citing high efficiency for both daily cycling (4–10 hours) and affordability for long-duration storage (24+ hours).
Sodium metal chloride batteries were originally developed for electric vehicles in the 1980s and 1990s, but cost reductions and scale have been held back by its cost structure. Inlyte’s team is now optimizing this technology platform for long-duration energy storage, replacing nickel with iron in a bid to achieve cost reductions while maintaining high performance.
However, limited research on the sodium-iron chloride battery chemistry to date has shown variable cycling performance in terms of the number of charge-discharge cycles it can complete before losing performance.
Now, Inlyte has revealed that its cells have achieved over 700 cycles with no loss in energy capacity and 90% roundtrip efficiency, using today’s commercially-produced sodium metal chloride cell format.
According to the company, these results, representing over a year of testing, project a battery life of at least 7,000 cycles or 20 years — matching the proven performance of traditional sodium nickel chloride batteries, but at a fraction of the cost.
“Our proprietary iron cathode innovation and optimized operating conditions make this milestone possible,” added Will Gent, VP of Engineering. “By leveraging earth-abundant iron and table salt, we are transforming economics and enabling domestic supply chains for energy storage.”
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