4 ms·

Take this with a pinch of salt because my memory might not be reliable. I haven't seen it working with my own eyes but I believe the concept did work, was prot

Take this with a pinch of salt because my memory might not be reliable. I haven't seen it working with my own eyes but I believe the concept did work, was prototyped and some were produced for the two usecases 'A' and 'L' they mention. However then in the last year or so the price of oil dropped and I think this either spooked Gray and/or the investors. I think they were at least partially refunded and the project was put on the backburner.

Lordarminius 10y ago
I am not an engineer but surely this is essentially a battery and its utility should be independent of any rises or dips in the price of energy?
- internaut 10y ago
  To give one example, there is a lot of people in rural communities who aren't on the grid e.g. Tiny House or RV communities. For most of those people, it is a choice between using natural gas and/or solar. A lot of them power fridges and airconditioning equipment using gas. Others use solar/wind and lead acid batteries to power their appliances. One of Velkess's products is aimed at being a drop-in replacement for lead acid batteries. So; the causality is that low oil/gas prices damage demand for solar/wind, which then indirectly affects people choosing to pay for lead-acid battery setups or a product like this flywheel. Personally I believe this would be way overthinking the market. This is a problem with analytical people sometimes. I think lots of people will purchase a flywheel battery merely because it is cool and different. I would purchase one partly for that reason, and because I believe a flywheel would (or has the potential to) last much longer than the alternatives. I also think a lot of greenie-weenies are uncomfortable with using lead-acid batteries for their storage as part of the renewable energy paradigm they prefer. There are health risks associated with them also, which environmentalists are going to be particularly paranoid about.

Lordarminius 10y ago

I am not an engineer but surely this is essentially a battery and its utility should be independent of any rises or dips in the price of energy?

internaut 10y ago
To give one example, there is a lot of people in rural communities who aren't on the grid e.g. Tiny House or RV communities. For most of those people, it is a choice between using natural gas and/or solar. A lot of them power fridges and airconditioning equipment using gas. Others use solar/wind and lead acid batteries to power their appliances. One of Velkess's products is aimed at being a drop-in replacement for lead acid batteries. So; the causality is that low oil/gas prices damage demand for solar/wind, which then indirectly affects people choosing to pay for lead-acid battery setups or a product like this flywheel. Personally I believe this would be way overthinking the market. This is a problem with analytical people sometimes. I think lots of people will purchase a flywheel battery merely because it is cool and different. I would purchase one partly for that reason, and because I believe a flywheel would (or has the potential to) last much longer than the alternatives. I also think a lot of greenie-weenies are uncomfortable with using lead-acid batteries for their storage as part of the renewable energy paradigm they prefer. There are health risks associated with them also, which environmentalists are going to be particularly paranoid about.