Ikea sells its own balcony power plant for self-assembly.
From this week on, Ikea stores will offer a DIY balcony solar power kit for a small price. It comes with a portable battery included.
Researchers at the German Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) have devised an innovative approach to make solid-state batteries more powerful and practical for everyday use. Their aim is to develop rechargeable cells that charge faster, last longer, and are more sustainable than conventional lithium-ion batteries. A new solid electrolyte could pave the way for a ground-breaking battery technology.
The performance limits of standard lithium-ion batteries are being reached because their anodes—typically made of graphite—can store only a limited number of ions. According to BAM, switching to anodes of pure lithium or the more sustainable and less expensive sodium could boost energy density by as much as 40 percent.
To operate safely, these anodes must be paired with a solid electrolyte instead of a liquid one. A central challenge is that contact losses and voids can form at the interface between the solid anode and the solid electrolyte, rendering the battery unusable. One potential solution is a partially liquid anode.
A recent study showed that a liquid alkali-metal anode is a hundred times more powerful than conventional graphite anodes, reports Gustav Graeber, a battery-materials expert at Humboldt University of Berlin and visiting scientist at BAM.
At present, the technology works only at around 250 °C. The goal is to bring its benefits down to room temperature by adding potassium to lower the anode’s melting point. A key hurdle is that many common solid electrolytes are not stable enough in the presence of potassium.
A special solid electrolyte based on sodium super-ionic conductors (NASICON) could solve this problem: these materials offer high ionic conductivity at room temperature and remain chemically stable against potassium—especially when doped with hafnium. Because hafnium is rare and costly, the team is searching for alternative additives that are efficient, sustainable, and widely available.
The project marks an important step toward high-performance batteries that are more sustainable, cheaper, and more efficient. Sodium solid-state batteries could drastically cut charging times and greatly enhance the performance of mobile and stationary energy-storage systems—an essential contribution to decarbonization, says Graeber.