5 ms·

"Battery systems" encompass all of the above methods of "energy storage connected to the grid". My personal favorite "so crazy it might work" idea is stacking c

"Battery systems" encompass all of the above methods of "energy storage connected to the grid". My personal favorite "so crazy it might work" idea is stacking concrete blocks on top of each other. Li-ion batteries keep coming down in price, and they can be scaled to basically any size. Pumped hydro is generally considered the best if you have access to it. Compressed air storage works well if you've got a huge, airtight cavern (generally an old salt mine). But any cheap energy storage we can get is gonna be useful.

russdill 7y ago
There's a lot of engineering challenges to still work out, but my favorite is currently flow batteries.
giarc 7y ago
Another crazy one is simply pushing a big heavy train up a hill. Then when you need power just letting it go back down the hill. https://www.wired.com/2016/05/forget-elons-batteries-fix-grid-rock-filled-train-hill/ https://www.wired.com/2016/05/forget-elons-batteries-fix-gri...
- _Microft 7y ago
  I one-up that with https://heindl-energy.com/technical-concept/ https://heindl-energy.com/technical-concept/ (city for scale?;)
- ineedasername 7y ago
  That make me think. It seems we're losing a lot of kinetic energy with rain, just letting it fall and impact the ground without capturing the force. Your example was real though, so I suppose that's an advantage over crazy rain energy.
imhoguy 7y ago
I imagine stack of ultracapacitors formed into solid walls or even building insulation. No space issues, no moving parts, extremely long lifespan, ultra quick charging and discharging. Cons: graphene is still expensive.
dv_dt 7y ago
There is also the idea of gravity pistons which claim to have the advantage of a much wider allowance of siting options than pumped hydro. https://heindl-energy.com/ https://heindl-energy.com/ Nice long-form discussion with the Omega Tau podcast: http://omegataupodcast.net/299-gravity-storage/ http://omegataupodcast.net/299-gravity-storage/ Also this: (don't know if there is any association) http://www.gravitypower.net/technology-gravity-power-energy-storage/ http://www.gravitypower.net/technology-gravity-power-energy-...

russdill 7y ago

There's a lot of engineering challenges to still work out, but my favorite is currently flow batteries.

giarc 7y ago

Another crazy one is simply pushing a big heavy train up a hill. Then when you need power just letting it go back down the hill. https://www.wired.com/2016/05/forget-elons-batteries-fix-grid-rock-filled-train-hill/ https://www.wired.com/2016/05/forget-elons-batteries-fix-gri...

_Microft 7y ago
I one-up that with https://heindl-energy.com/technical-concept/ https://heindl-energy.com/technical-concept/ (city for scale?;)
ineedasername 7y ago
That make me think. It seems we're losing a lot of kinetic energy with rain, just letting it fall and impact the ground without capturing the force. Your example was real though, so I suppose that's an advantage over crazy rain energy.

imhoguy 7y ago

I imagine stack of ultracapacitors formed into solid walls or even building insulation. No space issues, no moving parts, extremely long lifespan, ultra quick charging and discharging. Cons: graphene is still expensive.

dv_dt 7y ago

There is also the idea of gravity pistons which claim to have the advantage of a much wider allowance of siting options than pumped hydro. https://heindl-energy.com/ https://heindl-energy.com/ Nice long-form discussion with the Omega Tau podcast: http://omegataupodcast.net/299-gravity-storage/ http://omegataupodcast.net/299-gravity-storage/ Also this: (don't know if there is any association) http://www.gravitypower.net/technology-gravity-power-energy-storage/ http://www.gravitypower.net/technology-gravity-power-energy-...