Nickel Iron Battery

What is a Nickel Iron Battery?

A Nickel-iron battery is a rechargeable battery used for storing electric power. A Nickel-Iron(NiFe) battery contains nickel hydroxide and iron plates. The nickel(III) plates have a positive charge, and the iron plates have a negative. Each cell of this battery gives about 1.2 V of nominal voltage.

These batteries have cell durability of more than 30 years with repeated deep discharges. The slow power discharge is because the solubility of the reactants in the electrolytic solution is significantly low.

What are the applications of a Nickel Iron Battery?

Nickel Iron batteries find their application in various fields for power storage. Some of them are,

Solar Applications: The robust nature of NiFe batteries makes them suitable for solar power production. In solar applications, these batteries can fully charge in 4 hours and take overcharges and deep discharges.

Car Headlights: Due to the low self-discharge rate of only 20% to 30%. NiFe batteries produce current in the car’s electrical system and run the air conditioning.

Electrical Engines: Metro train propulsion systems in the United Kingdom and North America use Nickel Iron batteries.

How does a Nickel Iron Battery work?

Charging: The charging of the batteries takes place in the potassium hydroxide solution. Oxygen gets transferred from one plate to another. The anode is super oxidized, while the cathode has less oxidation.

Discharging: In a closed circuit, the Nickel iron battery experiences deoxidation on the positive side. While the oxidation of Iron plates, the charge starts to flow through the electrical circuit. Oxygen naturally gets attracted to Iron, forming the iron oxide.

What are some big brands of Nickel Iron batteries?

Iron Edison is one of the largest Nickel Iron battery manufacturers and suppliers in the USA. Some of the other manufacturers of Nickel-iron batteries are:

• Battery Solutions, LLC
• HBL America, Inc.
• Digi-Key
• U.S. Materials Handling Corp.

Distributors

Solar Products Distributors

Distributors are those companies working as big warehouses that served as the middlemen between the consumer/customer and the manufacturer. Typically, in distribution, a company is handling the sourcing, stocking and logistics but nowadays they are also helping manufacturers in product designing and solving other business conflicts. 

Aside from other industries, distributors also play a vital role in the solar industry. Solar distributors become long-term partners of solar manufacturing companies and even solar contractors. They are not only serving as warehouse facilities but partners that also provide strategic solutions to help solar companies achieve their desired outcomes. Solar distributors assist solar manufacturing companies by storing. handling and shipping their solar products to their buyers. On the other hand, they help solar contractor companies in outsourcing high-quality solar products. 

These solar distributors are the ones who deal with homeowners who want to go solar, businesses that work with the solar industry and solar installers who offer solar system services to both residential and commercial customers. But on top of that, the solar distributor’s main role is to maintain its commitment to outsourcing and handling high-quality products and delivering them to customers at a good value. 

Up to these days, many solar distributors have been operating and helping many solar companies in distributing their products. So, if you are looking for the most trusted and reliable solar distributor, you can easily find one by checking out solar outsourcing companies that provide easy access to reliable information, news, data and a list of solar suppliers and distributors near you.

Malta

A Brief Analysis of Malta’s nascent solar market

The Maltese consume an estimated 2.12 billion Kilowatts-hours of electricity per year. This energy consumption rate is the second-lowest across all European Union member states. Malta does not have any domestic fuel resources thus, forcing it to rely on imported fossil fuels. However, the country is working towards a renewable energy future under the European Union’s energy efficiency directive stipulations. What is the current state of Malta’s solar market?

As of 2017, renewable energy accounted for only 4.9 % of the Central Mediterranean state’s total installed capacity. This was one of the lowest renewable energy capacities in Europe. Fortunately, the Maltese Ministry of energy stepped up its renewable energy adoption efforts. At the end of 2019, Malta’s installed solar capacity stood at 154 Megawatts.

There are no recent statistics on the Maltese installed capacity. Still, the country’s rooftop PV sector is growing fast due to the government’s support. Essentially, this nascent solar market is most likely to continue growing and offer more lucrative opportunities for solar installers.

Solar equipment supply capacity in Malta

Malta has a small number of solar equipment suppliers that mainly deal with common equipment categories such as solar panels. This may limit your range of options in case you have a project lined up. Nevertheless, there is no need for concern because Solarfeeds has got you covered.

As a leading e-commerce marketplace for solar equipment, we host several leading equipment suppliers. If you don’t find the equipment needed locally, you can choose to import affordable and quality equipment from any of our partners. Just go to our inquiry page and request quotes.

Ports and logistics in Malta

Any solar installer or professional will agree that ports and quality services are essential amenities in any market. Well, most of Malta’s logistics service providers are highly experienced and dependable. You also have access to two major ports, namely;

• The Valletta Grand Harbor
• The Port of Marsaxlokk