Hey Adent,
Agree with you on your first point. Given my current understanding of your investing mentality, it's hard to formulate a response though.
http://energystorage.org/energy-storage/technologies/zinc-bromine-znbr-flow-batteries
http://energystorage.org/energy-storage/technologies/vanadium-redox-vrb-flow-batteries
I agree that ZnBr Batteries offer one of the highest cell voltages, but there are a variety of factors that need to be considered when determining the feasibility of a battery for large scale energy storage.
"The zinc-bromine redox battery offers one of the highest cell voltages and releases two electrons per atom of zinc. These attributes combine to offer the highest energy density among flow batteries. However, the high cell voltage and highly oxidative element, bromine, demand cell electrodes, membranes, and fluid handling components that can withstand the chemical conditions. These materials are expensive. Bromine is a highly toxic material through inhalation and absorption. Maintaining a stable amine complex with the bromine is key to system safety. Active cooling systems are provided by system manufacturers to maintain stability of the bromine-amine complex when ambient temperatures may exceed 95°F. In addition, repeated plating of metals in general is difficult due to the formation of “rough” surfaces (dendrite formation) that can puncture the separator. Special cell design and operating modes (pulsed discharge during charge) are required to achieve uniform plating and reliable operation."
Whereas:
The vanadium redox battery offers a relatively high cell voltage, which is favorable for higher power and energy density compared with other true RFB’s, like the iron-chromium system. However, the higher voltage and highly oxidative V5+ electrolyte puts more chemical stress on the materials used in the cell electrodes, membranes, and fluid handling components. Cross-transport of vanadium ions across the membrane is also reported as a challenge, and fairly expensive ion-exchange membranes must be used to minimize losses due to cross-membrane transport. These membranes can be vulnerable to fouling, wherein vanadium ions become irreversibly trapped in the membrane and increase resistive losses in the cell.
As we have both agreed, each battery has its benefits.
I'm particularly interested in the potential for a Vanadium Bromine Flow Battery:
http://wattjoule.com/wp-content/uploads/WattJoule-Gen2-Flow-Battery-Karlsruhe-Colloquium-Sept-27-2017.pdf
Regarding my post last night and China:
https://www.energy-storage.news/news/chinas-biggest-flow-battery-project-so-far-is-underway-with-hundreds-more-m
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