Pilot Demo of Ultra Low Cost, Long-Duration Energy Storage Coupled to Solar Power
Noon Energy Inc.
Recipient
Palo Alto, CA
Recipient Location
13th
Senate District
23rd
Assembly District
$1,487,363
Amount Spent
Active
Project Status
Project Update
In 2022, the team added key team members and demonstrated a scaled-up prototype energy storage system in the lab. To complement this key CEC BRIDGE funding, Noon also raised Series A venture funding in 2022.
In 2023, Noon continued scaleup activities of both the team and technology, refining the separations and heat management systems. Work was initiated on the demo system module.
In 2024, Noon made significant progress in this project toward building and testing the demo system module.
In 2025, Noon’s engineering team completed the assembly, commissioning, and testing of both the single demo system module and the fully integrated, containerized demo system. Lessons learned from the single module build were leveraged to expedite assembly and commissioning of the full demo system in 2025. The module and full system were each operated for thousands of hours in a solar power type charge-discharge operating profile.
The Issue
Inherently low-cost, safe, and compact energy storage using only earth-abundant, non-toxic materials is needed to support solar and wind energy generation as California moves to a 100% renewable energy future. Pumped hydro makes up the vast majority of stationary storage today, but it is limited to specific locations. Conventional Li-ion batteries offer high efficiency, but the cost is fundamentally limited by the relatively expensive metals in which energy is stored.
Project Innovation
This project will scale up an ultra-low-cost, long-duration battery technology from TRL 4 to TRL 6. The battery stores energy by splitting CO2 into solid carbon and oxygen in a flow battery configuration, using the most abundant, low-cost elements on earth and simple reaction chemistry. This is the first time a carbon-oxygen battery system has been built and tested.
Project Goals
Project Benefits
This project developed and scaled a low-cost, long-duration carbon-oxygen battery for grid energy storage. By enabling affordable 100+ hour storage, the technology increases grid flexibility and supports integration of higher levels of intermittent renewable generation. The project’s scale-up work validated the technology and its manufacturability. Successful development and commercialization of this technology will enable lower total system costs for utilities and ratepayers while improving reliability during peak demand and extreme events. The project will also strengthen domestic energy storage innovation and create pathways for U.S.-based manufacturing and skilled jobs. Overall, the project advances a safer, more resilient, and cleaner electricity system by expanding access to dependable long-duration storage.
Affordability
This project brought a new ultra-long duration energy storage technology towards commercialization. When mass produced as a product, this carbon-oxygen battery energy storage system will be able to make the lowest-cost intermittent electricity supply fully firm and dispatchable, lowering electricity costs for ratepayers.
Reliability
This project developed a new low-cost energy storage technology that can support integration of increasing amounts of intermittent renewable energy supply on the grid.
Safety
Noon’s battery system offers a major safety advantage over existing market solutions because its design keeps reactive materials physically separated, removing the conditions that cause thermal runaway and explosion.
Key Project Members
Chris Graves
Subrecipients
OxEon Energy, LLC
Match Partners
OxEon Energy, LLC
