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How Water Heaters Evolved into Grid-Scale Energy-Storage Devices (2014)

24 points by davesailer 11y ago

smarks159 11y ago
The legal issues with this technology have now been resolved and the first units are being sold in the open market[1]. A 10-20x cheaper energy storage solution than current battery technologies and it is available right now, and not years away from being implemented like other technologies. [1]http://www.vaughncorp.com/downloads/press/grid-enabled%20water%20heaters%20press%20release.pdf http://www.vaughncorp.com/downloads/press/grid-enabled%20wat...
dimitar 11y ago
This reminds me of District heating - they do use the benefits of thermal storage and economies of scale to cheaply create and store energy (for heating homes). The issue with District heating is that in many places district heating companies are abusive monopolists with awful service. Here it is actually cheaper to warm the water on demand with grid electricity! However, having the technology to allow individual households and businesses to benefit from water heaters as grid storage is very different - this also solves an economic/political issue.
cjbenedikt 11y ago
"Sequentric’s technology has been tested by the Electric Power Research Institute and is now being deployed by Hawaiian Electric, but we have yet to see the results of these studies." This technological approach is widely used in private homes in Germany. The energy savings are significant and customers are extremely satisfied with every aspect of it.
snowwindwaves 11y ago
This concept has been used in new zealand for decades. The communications channel is probably moving to radio and possibly integrated in to smart meters. It used to/still does work on a "ripple" signal where the utility injects a higher frequency signal, such as 300 Hz, on to the power lines and then relays at the customer's houses pick up the signals and operate on and off. They cycle through groups of customers so nobody's hot water is off for very long. here is an excellent resource with pictures of the ripple plant and the evolution of the equipment http://www.oriongroup.co.nz/downloads/ripplesignalguide.pdf http://www.oriongroup.co.nz/downloads/ripplesignalguide.pdf
anabis 11y ago
I though heat pumps were generally more efficient. They still do use a lot of energy, so it can be used in a similar scheme, but I wonder how it would change details.

24 points by davesailer 11y ago

The legal issues with this technology have now been resolved and the first units are being sold in the open market[1]. A 10-20x cheaper energy storage solution than current battery technologies and it is available right now, and not years away from being implemented like other technologies. [1]http://www.vaughncorp.com/downloads/press/grid-enabled%20water%20heaters%20press%20release.pdf http://www.vaughncorp.com/downloads/press/grid-enabled%20wat...

dimitar 11y ago

This reminds me of District heating - they do use the benefits of thermal storage and economies of scale to cheaply create and store energy (for heating homes). The issue with District heating is that in many places district heating companies are abusive monopolists with awful service. Here it is actually cheaper to warm the water on demand with grid electricity! However, having the technology to allow individual households and businesses to benefit from water heaters as grid storage is very different - this also solves an economic/political issue.

cjbenedikt 11y ago

"Sequentric’s technology has been tested by the Electric Power Research Institute and is now being deployed by Hawaiian Electric, but we have yet to see the results of these studies." This technological approach is widely used in private homes in Germany. The energy savings are significant and customers are extremely satisfied with every aspect of it.

snowwindwaves 11y ago

This concept has been used in new zealand for decades. The communications channel is probably moving to radio and possibly integrated in to smart meters. It used to/still does work on a "ripple" signal where the utility injects a higher frequency signal, such as 300 Hz, on to the power lines and then relays at the customer's houses pick up the signals and operate on and off. They cycle through groups of customers so nobody's hot water is off for very long. here is an excellent resource with pictures of the ripple plant and the evolution of the equipment http://www.oriongroup.co.nz/downloads/ripplesignalguide.pdf http://www.oriongroup.co.nz/downloads/ripplesignalguide.pdf

anabis 11y ago

I though heat pumps were generally more efficient. They still do use a lot of energy, so it can be used in a similar scheme, but I wonder how it would change details.