I have to admit I'm a bit concerned about the amount of cost savings that can be realized by building it with the same methods as solar cells. Even with the precipitous drop in solar cell prices over the past few years they still aren't cheap.
By what metric..? The amount of energy and power involved in the two uses is completely different. Do you happen to know the bulk cost of silicon, or how much silicon is used in solar cells, or how much of a solar cells cost it makes up, or what process is similar?
You're not doing much more than a kind of free association. For actual context, spheroidal graphite powder is up to $10,000/tonne[1] and metallurgical silicon is around a quarter of that[2].
[1] http://www.mining.com/web/battery-grade-graphite-set-for-rec...
[2] https://www.metalbulletin.com/Article/3208513/Silicon-prices...
The bulk cost of silicon is a moot point. That's like asking how Pizzas can be made more cheaply if you reduce the cost of the flour involved. It's the extreme precision ultra pure processing that makes it expensive, not the bulk materials.
Batteries don't require 6N precision. Silicon anodes can be 99% pure and work fine. Metallurgical silicon is ~99.9%. Only the bottom shelf ferrosilicon stuff is <99%.
My point is that you're making assertions that you don't fully understand. Why would batteries suddenly need extreme precision ultra pure processing? That doesn't make sense.
> It's the extreme precision ultra pure processing that makes it expensive, not the bulk materials.
That's my whole point. The expensive part is left behind because it doesn't have anything to do with batteries. The part that's left over is fancy sand and a mylar-making machine. The same machine used to make the very cheapest solar cells, the kinds in old calculators. The kind of machine that made the monitor you're reading this on. Not the 9N part.
Full solution - all with Silicon.
If that's possible - and they can improve the cycle count... or do it cheap enough to make up for a low cycle count... or all of it - improve it, make it cheaper AND under one roof?
Even if that were true, this is a release by a company... they aren't going to give away their technology for other people to use.
That's what licensing agreements are for.
I just think that if I was a solar company that could use my equipment to produce batteries as well? That would be high on the priority list to include in packages...
Companies sure do love bundling things together.
I would expect the battery to be in the basement/garage/etc and not on the roof with the panels.