How would you like to have a car battery for your business? Unless your business is involved in delivery or taxi services, you may question why you would need one. Coda Holdings is challenging this notion. According to a New York Times article in late January, Coda Holdings is planning to sell its electric car batteries to businesses in the hope of taking advantage of a flaw in the energy market. If they succeed, it could mean bigger savings for businesses and less carbon emissions for the planet.
There are many ways that batteries and battery monitoring systems can help businesses stay in power when something goes wrong. Many businesses and data centers employ uninterruptible power systems to avoid a blackout, and these systems are dependent on batteries that are carefully monitored to avoid a catastrophe. Coda is hoping to take this idea and extend it to solar and wind power.
One of the biggest problems with solar and wind power sources is unreliability. If there is no wind or sun, there is no power. Oftentimes, during a lag period, batteries are used. However, power companies also use spinning reserves – plants that are continually idle to go off at a moment's notice – to protect against the variable nature of the energy source. This process releases a large amount of carbon monoxide emissions into the air.
If all goes well, batteries could replace the spinning reserves and help protect the environment and save businesses money.
