That's very good news. Maybe.
The guy behind this battery technology is Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong. He was born in South Africa, now lives in LA, California. Like Elon Musk, also born in South Africa, the man has a brilliant mind. But judging by the information on the Web, this battery technology is only a small part of his interests. His main interests are in health and what can be done using the power of the Internet, smart phones and apps to deal with health issues. About 9 years ago, he sold 2 drug companies for over $8 billion. That could be a clue as to where his interests lie. Not to say that health is not important.
This zinc-air battery technology has been proven and according to the website NantEnergy-dot-com, is being used in many areas in Asia and Africa.
It would be great if he decided to mass produce these batteries and sell them to the public. I see little chance of that anytime soon. But at least we know that the technology exists and maybe some other Company would start producing them.
In my opinion, energy storage is the weakest link of any “home-made†energy generating system. I think that for years we've waited for a better battery technology to replace lead, gel or lithium with something that is safer, easy to maintain and cheaper. I'm not sure that this zinc-air is the answer, but there are others formulations being developed. I think there will be a breakthrough before too long.
Ed
