Comments on: 3 Questions for 3 Energy Storage Experts

By: EnerG2 Kicks Off Fed-Backed Factory: First Ultracaps, Then the World

EnerG2 Kicks Off Fed-Backed Factory: First Ultracaps, Then the World — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 22:07:13 +0000

[...] transportation, in consumer electronics, power grid and industrial applications. As CEO Rick Luebbe told us late last year, “Any application that performs better or lasts longer using rapid charge and discharge [...]

By: biostan

biostan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:07:05 +0000

Someone needs to explain to me how my electric car can serve as a power storage source for my house. If I charge my car at night using cheaper off peak electricity, then it's available to get me to work the next day. But if the energy in the batteries is being used to get me to work, it's not available to power my house or send back to the grid. If my electric car is just backup storage for the electric company, wouldn't it be cheaper to just buy the batteries and forget the car?

By: Energy storage questions and answers « Knowledge Problem

Energy storage questions and answers « Knowledge Problem — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:04:33 +0000

[...] offers “3 Questions for 3 Energy Storage Experts.” The three [...]

By: Victor Babbitt

Victor Babbitt — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:57:05 +0000

Charles is right in stating a note of caution about Vehicle-to-Grid concepts, but more needs to be said. The present Lithium Ion batteries are much to expensive to be economic for Grid use. A Lithium Ion battery has cycle life limitations, i.e.; a limited number of charge/discharge cycles. For now and for the foreseeable future, the value that the battery degrades with each cycle is much more than the value of the grid electricity it would store. Giving a vehicle owner $1 for stored electricity while degrading his battery by $10 is not a viable model. If it were, then we would much more economically store Lithium Ion batteries at substations and wind and solar plants.

However, economic grid storage is close at hand, in flow batteries, metal-air batteries, and in Sodium Ion batteries. Also, the use of ionic liquid electrolytes and the new MIT all-liquid battery show great promise for grid level energy storage in the next 2-5 years.

By: Marc

Marc — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:13:12 +0000

Nor does this discuss thermal energy storage for buildings or intermittent energy sources, a very real technology being used for reducing peak demand.

By: Charles R. Toca

Charles R. Toca — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:05:30 +0000

I thought the comments were reasoned, wide ranging and inclusive of all storage options. I note the belief and reliance in vehicle energy storage and caution that, if large scale and usable vehicle energy storage occurs, it won’t be available for 10 to 15 years in usable quantity. See “Bottling Electricity” by the Electricity Advisory Committee: http://tinyurl.com/yarq8dn We need to focus on what is doable sooner rather than later. VRB redox flow batteries are multi-megawatt solutions available now. More information at http://www.Utility-Savings.com.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:54:56 +0000

Interesting. Not one of them mentioned that the lowest hanging fruit for energy storage on the grid is demand side management.

By: Mike Licht

Mike Licht — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:25:36 +0000

The biggest threat to America’s power grid?

See:

http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/10/24/terrorists-strike-u-s-infrastructure/

By: Green Ink: Farvel, Copenhagen - Environmental Capital - WSJ

Green Ink: Farvel, Copenhagen - Environmental Capital - WSJ — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:21:07 +0000

[...] you ever wanted to know about energy storage, from the experts, at [...]

By: hsr0601

hsr0601 — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:45:58 +0000

The EV battery is expected to act as a catalyst to accelerate development of sustainable power, specifically as a storage for wind power at nighttime and for solar panel system via recycling. In return, this situation has a chance to bring a solid win-win outcome -- rendering EVs affordable.
In many cases, power plants like a nuclear reactor maintain operation during night, and EVs could take full advantage of the surplus energy :

With the concept of "V2H" (vehicle to home), the vehicle can supply 100V electricity stored in its on-board lithium-ion batteries to electric appliances in a house.

It is possible to charge the batteries at night, when electricity is cheaper, and use it for home appliances during daytime, Mitsubishi Motors said.

And the company claims that the batteries can provide almost all the electricity used in a normal household throughout the day.