3 ms·
These are cool ideas but there's always an asterisk. The issue here is: the "stored energy" isn't electricity, but heat. Converting heat into electricity is qu
by tomp 1y ago
These are cool ideas but there's always an asterisk.
The issue here is: the "stored energy" isn't electricity, but heat. Converting heat into electricity is quite wasteful.
- orev 1y agoThey’re using the stored heat energy as heat, not converting it back to electricity. And if it’s very cheap, does it matter if the conversion is wasteful?
- tomp 1y agoI'm not saying it's bad, but it's clearly not a replacement for batteries, given its applicability is quite limited. The question is about conversion is, is it still cheap if you add a powerplant (i.e. converting heat into electricity) and have to maintain it (moving parts, in contrast to batteries).
- pfdietz 1y agoIt's explicitly not a replacement for batteries. Did you not read the article? It's a crucial complement for batteries. Batteries suck for seasonal storage.
- zahlman 1y agoAs I understand it, this is meant as a supplement to batteries, so that batteries can do most of the intraday load shifting while thermal can store energy over longer durations.
- epistasis 1y agoIt's not really an asterisk if it's right in the title and the name of the company, is it?