A zinc-air energy storage system designed and manufactured by Zinc8 Energy Solutions has been deployed at an innovative, low-energy-footprint estate in Surrey, BC. The capacity of the energy storage system to be installed by Zinc8 is presently configured to be 20 kW and 80 kWh, but the flexibility of the Zinc8 system enables it to be easily modified to meet any change in demand. The system will be integrated with an onsite solar array to provide the main source of power to the estate.

The residence known as ‘75 house’ presently under construction on the estate includes many features that make it architecturally unique and energy-efficient. Designed by renowned architect Omer Arbel, the construction of the residence uses the technique of pouring concrete into fabric formwork deployed within minimal plywood rib structures, yielding walls and columnar roof forms. The design was selected to the shortlist of entries at the World Architecture Festival held in Amsterdam in December 2019.

“The ability to deliver our ‘Zinc-Air Energy Storage System’ on time to the ’75 House’ construction project reinforces our commitment to becoming a leader in the deployment of long-duration energy storage and is a testament to the hard work by the Zinc8 team. This is an important milestone as Zinc8 Energy Solutions moves forward to its planned commercial production in early 2023” said Zinc8 Energy Solutions President and CEO, Ron MacDonald.

The Zinc8 Energy Storage System is a modular system designed to deliver power in the range of 20 kW to 1 MW or more and energy in the range of 160 kWh to 8 MWh or more. With the advantage of rechargeable zinc-air battery technology, the system can be configured to support a wide range of discharge power, recharge power and duty cycle requirements. Since the energy storage capacity of the Zinc8 system is determined only by the size of the zinc storage tank, a very cost-effective and scalable solution now exists as an alternative to the fixed power/energy ratio of the lithium ion and other energy storage technologies (including other zinc-air competitors) for users requiring high storage capacity.