The performance of a soluble lead-acid flow battery and its comparison to a static lead-acid battery

The electrochemistry of static lead-acid and soluble lead-acid flow batteries is summarised and the differencesbetween the two batteries are highlighted. A general comparison of the performance of an unoptimisedsoluble lead-acid flow laboratory cell and a commercial lead-acid battery during charge anddischarge is reported. The influence of the depth of discharge on cycle life for both batteries is also considered.The flow battery was found to have a better charge efficiency than the static one, but the cellswere found to have comparable energy efficiencies. The self-discharge characteristics of the solublelead-acid battery were also measured and compared to reported values for a commercial static battery.Some self-discharge of the soluble lead-acid flow battery is observed during prolonged periods on opencircuitbut the battery could recover its normal performance after a single charge–discharge cycle