The ZCA is characterized by high current density, high volumetric energy density, low self-discharge rate, high energy utilization rate, high number of charge/discharge cycles, low temperature resistance and low cost.

Copper-zinc chemical electrical energy source is known since 1836, when John Frederic Daniell invented a copper-zinc electrochemical cell with sulfuric acid as electrolyte (Daniell Cell). However, quick self-discharge due to rapid corrosion of zinc in sulfuric acid is a major disadvantage of CIES with an acidic electrolyte.

ZCA solves the above problem while inheriting all of the advantages of the Daniell Cell. 

There are four major segments of the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) customer base:

1. Utility-scale installations to support uninterrupted power supply to all customers;
2. Industrial and commercial installations;
3. Residential installations;
4. Military applications;

Home battery storage systems have skyrocketed in popularity during the past few years for many different reasons. Besides the obvious fact that they provide clean power, more and more people are recognizing that the grid isn’t always reliable. “Energy independence is one of the biggest reasons people install home battery storage systems,” says Gerbrand Ceder, professor at UC Berkeley and faculty staff scientist at Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory.

A battery energy storage solution offers new application flexibility and unlocks new business value across the energy value chain, from conventional power generation, transmission & distribution, and renewable power, to industrial and commercial sectors. Energy storage supports diverse applications including firming renewable production, stabilizing the electrical grid, controlling energy flow, optimizing asset operation and creating new revenue.

For renewables developers, energy storage offers a faster alternative to a PPA, which may have a lead time of a year or more.

For utilities, energy storage offers relevancy with increased distributed generation. Recent events and climate change have spurred demand even further for these systems. In places like California, where utilities have instituted public safety shutoffs, planned outages have become more frequent during fire season.

Energy storage can help increase the dispatchability and predictability of renewables, helping to meet strict code and connection permits.

The military understands the importance of increasing stationary energy storage to support their bases’ energy security and energy independence needs. Doing so will help keep specific critical infrastructures, such as communications, medical functions, refrigeration, and vehicle charging, powered even during outages, especially if implemented as part of the military’s independent microgrids.

By integrating battery energy storage system (BESS) into their critical functions and using storage to augment their current and new microgrids, the U.S. military achieves greater energy security and independence, providing their bases and facilities with continuous access to reliable power sources.

An absolute majority of BESS is based on lithium-ion technology. The technology that utilizes extremely rare and expensive raw materials, sometimes mined by underage slave labor. The growing demand for the batteries drives the prices up. 

Reliable, inexpensive battery energy storage systems are essential for the national defense, commercial and private applications. Energy storage solutions for national security missions must not only provide reliable, energy-dense performance under extreme conditions, but must also be independent from the supply chains interruptions.

"Battery technology, and lithium-ion batteries specifically, are the lifeblood of electrification and the future auto industry, but batteries are also essential to thousands of military systems, from handheld radios to unmanned submersibles and to future capabilities like lasers, directed energy weapons, and hybrid electric tactical vehicles. A healthy battery supply chain is essential to the military. When it comes to batteries, America needs to lead the world. That means innovation, but it also means manufacturing, ensuring we have healthy supply chains to get what we need, when we need it. The problem, however, is that China presently dominates that supply chain."

                                                                         - Deputy Secretary of Defense Dr. Kathleen H. Hicks

Current dependence on potential adversaries for battery materials creates challenges in securing critical battery supply chains. At the same time, skyrocketing demand for electric vehicles is driving the market competition resulting in increased prices. While supporting domestic and allied mining, processing, and battery production investments that make it possible to domestically manufacture the lithium-ion cells and battery packs that support defense systems safely and affordably is one of the top priorities, developing and deploying the battery systems based on inexpensive, widely available raw materials would greatly compliment the effort.

ZCA Battery Specs:

• High current density - up to 5 A/dm2 of the cathode;
• Low electrode polarization - voltage reduction at medium currents of no more than 0.1 - 0.2 V;
• Significant potential difference of 1 cell - 1.5 V.
• Inexpensive and widely available materials: copper, zinc, ammonia solution.
• Low cost: about $60 per 1 kWh capacity (1 kWh battery weight is about 17.6 lb. - 8 kg).
• High theoretical specific energy - 360 Wh/kg.
• High practical specific energy - 150 Wh/kg.
• Large number of discharge-charge cycles without capacity reduction: over 1000 cycles.
• Low self-discharge - weight loss of the charged anode is no more than 1% per month.
• High energy utilization rate - up to 90% for the entire charge-discharge cycle.
• Service life - at least 10 years.
• Min operational temperature up to -40°F (-40°С).

One of the main advantages of the proposed system, it can be stored fully charged in its dry state without no electrolyte. Making the battery operational requires adding the electrolyte. It makes it an ideal power source for emergency deployment and battlefield operations.