4 ms·
Build enough PV to generate 24 hours worth of power for the reactor in daylight hours, and store the excess in batteries to power the reactor overnight.
by simonh 6y ago
Build enough PV to generate 24 hours worth of power for the reactor in daylight hours, and store the excess in batteries to power the reactor overnight.
- taneq 6y agoAt that point, just use battery storage and bypass the reactor entirely.
- Qwertious 6y agoFor domestic day-to-day consumption, absolutely. The main argument for hydrogen AFAICT is that it can be exported overseas or stored for inter-seasonal use. Batteries can't do that, as 1) when compared to literal rocket fuel, they're impractically heavy to put on a cargo ship for bulk transport, and 2) batteries trickle-discharge so after a month or two the battery will be flat.
- ben_w 6y agoIn fairness, pure hydrogen is also leaky and hard to work with. That’s why I was asking about the economics of turning it into methane… and yet, one of the other replies I got pointed out that methane is also a bit leaky, so we might want to reform it (or whatever the word for “opposite of cracking” is) all the way up to a room temperature liquid. I barely remember the process from school, something like this rings a bell: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalytic_reforming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalytic_reforming
- pfdietz 6y agoThe largest energy draw is making the hydrogen. Store that and operate the reactor 24/7.