"If I were attempting to build rechargeable cells for off-grid energy storage, I'd experiment with Edison cells. An Edison-type cell could be built with cheap, non-toxic reagents, like nickel, iron, and sodium hydroxide (drain cleaner)."
Oh dear here I go onto yet another project I geuss.
So if I take a long string of nickels, Rear axle shaft from a car, fill a 55gal barrel with lye and water mixture how many amps will I get
Is that at 2 volt per cell so I would need 6 55gal barrels for a 12V system?
Actually although joking about a string of nickles you do have me thinking about this one. $10 each (maybe $8) for 55gal teflon lined veggie oil barrels. Or $6 each for plastic 35Gal barrels. I got all the iron/steel I would need, Lye (drain cleaner) is cheap (alot less than batteries anyway) so where would I get the Nickle? Use Nickles? cheap enough, 20 for a buck
I have tried to look into this at least once before, but I got talk pages about it with google searches but no real info about how they are built.
I just found this one
"The result was the "nickel-iron" cell, or "Edison cell", and though it still lives on in industrial uses, it never came close to displacing the lead-acid battery. The Edison cell uses an iron anode, a nickel oxide cathode, and a potassium hydroxide electrolyte.
The Edison cell provides a voltage of about 1.15 volts per cell. Its main virtue is that it is extremely rugged, tolerating discharge treatment that would ruin other types of storage cells, and has a very long service life. "
Still no details how to build them or amps per square feet