Sodium-ion batteries are rechargeable batteries that use sodium ions (Na+) as its charge carriers12.
They are similar to lithium-ion batteries in terms of working principle and cell construction, but they replace lithium with sodium as the intercalating ion1.
Sodium-ion batteries are cheaper to produce, safer to use, and operate better in extreme temperatures than lithium-ion batteries3.
However, sodium batteries of equal capacity are heavier and larger than their lithium equivalents3.
I don't think this is a healthy level of suspicion to levy against an otherwise correct summary. If you think their comment would be improved with a citation then simply adding it would be good - cited comments are relatively common here but not mandatory and generally not how people communicate.
Yeah, I have enough high school chemistry knowledge to know that lithium and sodium are in the same column on the periodic table at least and can read about energy density and cost, but I'm really wondering where these things will fit in in the economy. In theory I might dabble with hobbyist level solar systems and controllers and battery packs, but I don't exactly feel like sourcing a bunch of 18650 cells and spot welding things together - give me an already packaged battery please.
They are similar to lithium-ion batteries in terms of working principle and cell construction, but they replace lithium with sodium as the intercalating ion1.
Sodium-ion batteries are cheaper to produce, safer to use, and operate better in extreme temperatures than lithium-ion batteries3.
However, sodium batteries of equal capacity are heavier and larger than their lithium equivalents3.