Tanks Full Of New Energy Beat Batteries
'Sun in a box' would store renewable energy for the grid; Design for system that provides solar- or wind-generated power on demand should be cheaper than other leading options
December 5, 2018 (Massachusetts Institute of Technology via Science Daily)
“MIT engineers have come up with a conceptual design for a system to store renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, and deliver that energy back into an electric grid on demand…[The new design stores heat generated by excess electricity] in large tanks of white-hot molten silicon, and then converts the light from the glowing metal back into electricity when it's needed. The researchers estimate that such a system would be vastly more affordable than lithium-ion batteries…[and] would cost about half as much as pumped hydroelectric storage -- the cheapest form of grid-scale energy storage to date…
…[The new storage system uses liquid silicon and a heat pump that] has the highest heat tolerance on record…[The system would consist of large, heavily insulated tanks] made from graphite…[The liquid silicon would be processed to a glowing heat of 4,300 degrees Fahrenheit with electricity generated from New Energy. The light would be used to generate electricity with high efficiency solar panels and the] cooled silicon can be pumped back…acting effectively as a large rechargeable battery…[Lab tests have proven the concept and the] researchers estimate that a single storage system could enable a small city…[T]he system's design is geographically unlimited…” click here for more
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