> IMHO, like the cobalt getting mined by children from artisanal-scale mines in Africa

Not really an issue for solar battery systems as they typically use the cheaper LFP chemistry that has a much higher cycle count. The gravimetric density is a bit less, but that only really matters for high-performance mobility.

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nandomrumber 9 hours ago | parent [-]

You responded to a comment about cobalt with vague references to cell chemistry, cycle count, and energy density.

What does any of that have to do with cobalt?

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dgacmu 9 hours ago | parent [-]

The post you're replying to didn't explain it well, but: LFP batteries don't use cobalt (or nickel).

LFP production is starting to pass NMC (lithium + nickel manganese cobalt oxide). Slightly lower density but a lot of advantages in lack of easily catching on fire, longer lifetime -- and lack of cobalt. LFP (LiFePo4) is the battery chemistry of choice today for solar installations, where the longer lifetime and increased safety are a big win and the slightly lower density doesn't matter, unlike mobile applications.

	▲	aeonfox 7 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I suppose I could have been clearer, but I figure it was an easy connection tom make from talking about chemistry to the question of whether cobalt is even relevant.