Sodium-Ion Batteries For The Win!

A newer type of battery is starting to move into home and grid energy storage: sodium-ion. Most home batteries today use lithium, but sodium is cheaper, works better in cold weather, and needs little or no cooling system, which is one of the more expensive and space-hungry parts of a battery setup. Sodium also doesn't carry the fire risk that comes with some lithium chemistries, so battery makers are calling it safer.

Several companies are moving quickly. ESS, based in Oregon, plans to launch its first sodium-ion storage system next year, with a more advanced version in late 2028. Peak Energy expects to start delivering its own sodium system by mid-2027, and says its version can passively cool itself, cutting out fans and chillers. For homeowners specifically, a company called Unigrid, working with manufacturer Syntropic Power, is aiming sodium batteries at the residential market, where lithium home batteries have stayed expensive, often $10,000 or more. Because sodium's raw materials cost much less than lithium's, the companies working on it expect prices to drop faster over time.

None of this is available to buy yet. Analysts at Morgan Stanley Research estimate sodium batteries will hold only a small share of the storage market by 2027, growing much larger by 2030 and 2035. So if you're weighing a home battery now, this is a technology to watch rather than something on the shelf yet, but it points toward home batteries that could eventually cost less and need less maintenance.