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.

Manufacturers

In the simplest terms, manufacturing is the process of producing actual goods or items/products through the use of raw materials, human labour, use of machinery, tools and other processes such as chemical formulation. This process usually starts with product designing and raw material selection, turning them into an actual product output. 

Solar Products Manufacturers and Factories

In terms of solar, manufacturing encompasses the fabrication or production of materials across the solar market chain. The most common product being manufactured by solar companies are the solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, which are made with several subcomponents such as solar wafers, cells, glass, back sheets, and frames. Before a solar panel comes into life, it will undergo a lot of processes, from designing, modelling, choosing what raw materials to use and then assembling them all to make the final product.

More Than Just Solar Panels

Aside from the solar panels, solar companies have many other manufactured products that are required to make solar energy systems work smoothly, like solar inverters, batteries, combiner boxes, and racking and tracking structures.

Having a solar manufacturing sector makes a big difference in supplying affordable solar energy in different areas. Aside from maintaining the rising domestic and global demand for cleaner and renewable energy, they also help the economy grow, particularly the solar industry. If you are in search of a reliable solar manufacturing company, checking out our solar outsourcing company, SolarFeeds, would help you get easy access to reliable information, news, data and a list of solar manufacturers that can help you with solar products.

Zimbabwe

Solar Market Outlook in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe government has recently launched its National Renewable Energy Policy. They have obtained assistance from the World Bank in order to procure large scale solar PV projects. The World Bank has opened a tender via the African Power Platform in order to boost the renewable energy capacity. 

Solar is the primary source of energy among independent power projects in Zimbabwe. As of July 2021, there were seven new solar PV projects that were installed with a solar capacity of 66 MW. These projects are expected to become ready and fully functional by the end of 2021, which should boost the country’s solar and renewable energy industry. 

The new solar developments are also proof that there are adequate regulations in place in Zimbabwe designed to benefit investors and consumers alike. The government is hoping to maintain policies that will encourage more investors in the future. 

By the end of 2020, Zimbabwe has reached 17 MW capacity in solar installations. They are targeting to reach 1GW of capacity by 2025. 

Solar Energy Equipment Supply Capacity in Zimbabwe

As of now, there are limited options for suppliers and distributors within Zimbabwe. Individual and commercial consumers of solar installations do have access to global suppliers, as well as those from neighboring countries. 

Top 8 Major Seaports & Logistics in Zimbabwe

There are various ports and logistics companies operating in Zimbabwe to maximize the ability to transport solar power equipment. The top ports available in Zimbabwe are

• Chiredzi,
• Thompson Junction,
• Rusape,
• Harare,
• Victoria Falls,
• Mutare,
• Bata, 
• Hwange.