Originally Posted By: Toaster_Jer
Now, it's time to develop really efficient batteries that don't have to be replaced all the time.
Elon Musk gets it... (Powerwall)
I think that over-simplifies it and ignores the unsuitability for stuff we like the idea of at a micro level to translate to the macro side of things. Shannow has already addressed that but when I think of "batteries" for something that is going to actually function as part of the grid, I don't think of these novelty items but rather something that aligns more closely with the scale of what it is being attached to.
Dams and reservoirs as batteries are what show the most promise here. Fill them up when the renewables are dumping power, and use that power to do the pumping, and then when the sun stops shining or the wind stops blowing, water is let back out, spinning turbines and generating reliable power, completely able to offset the power generated by the renewables that at that point, aren't working. And of course these reservoir based generation methods are completely scalable relative to the size of the renewable install they are supporting.
I believe Germany is already leveraging this as part of their green energy policy, though are still having to buy power from their neighbours and burn coal because of the knee-jerk shuttering of their nukes (which was an idiotic move, but anyways...)
Now, it's time to develop really efficient batteries that don't have to be replaced all the time.
Elon Musk gets it... (Powerwall)
I think that over-simplifies it and ignores the unsuitability for stuff we like the idea of at a micro level to translate to the macro side of things. Shannow has already addressed that but when I think of "batteries" for something that is going to actually function as part of the grid, I don't think of these novelty items but rather something that aligns more closely with the scale of what it is being attached to.
Dams and reservoirs as batteries are what show the most promise here. Fill them up when the renewables are dumping power, and use that power to do the pumping, and then when the sun stops shining or the wind stops blowing, water is let back out, spinning turbines and generating reliable power, completely able to offset the power generated by the renewables that at that point, aren't working. And of course these reservoir based generation methods are completely scalable relative to the size of the renewable install they are supporting.
I believe Germany is already leveraging this as part of their green energy policy, though are still having to buy power from their neighbours and burn coal because of the knee-jerk shuttering of their nukes (which was an idiotic move, but anyways...)