3 ms·
Flywheels are an alternative to batteries for grid stability. Very little interest in adding them due to the continued advancement of batteries. I'm actually su
by 1970-01-01 4y ago
Flywheels are an alternative to batteries for grid stability. Very little interest in adding them due to the continued advancement of batteries. I'm actually surprised how often they're missed as a viable solution.
- actionfromafar 4y agoI always feel uneasy about flywheels. While batteries can be potential fire hazards, flywheels are potential bombs.
- BizarroLand 4y agoFrom what I've seen, a somewhat more ideal scenario would be a flywheel battery station on every street and a chemical battery in every home. In that scenario, neighborhoods would take a while to fill up their capacity but once those capacities were full they could easily handle brownouts and temporary disruptions without affecting the larger grid.
- janef0421 4y agoThat sounds incredibly unsafe.
- BizarroLand 4y agoWhy? Many hospitals utilize flywheel storage. Probably safer than having a giant pile of extremely reactive lithium sitting on every street corner.
- ahartman00 4y agoiiuc, flywheels would slow down/lose energy over time due to friction. They might be useful for smoothing out peaks, ie when clouds pass over a solar farm. But for longer term storage, arent batteries better?
- pjc50 4y agoWhich company is making an economically competitive solution, though? What's the feasible density?
- 1970-01-01 4y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34370740 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34370740