Load balancing, sure, but they're already limiting on peaks so I have doubts about the base supply capacity.
There was talk about nuclear power. We've until recently been against this on principle but maybe it's time to reconsider? Anyway, I find the process of lithium mining to be ugly at best.. Still, I might agree with you on solar for this region.
There was talk about nuclear power. We've until recently been against this on principle but maybe it's time to reconsider? Anyway, I find the process of lithium mining to be ugly at best.. Still, I might agree with you on solar for this region.
Lithium mining vs nuclear waste for many of the next generations to come??? Are you kidding me?? Hopefully you´re not serious. Instead people seriously need to think about not wasting the power they´ve already got, and treat it with respect. (Alternative way of thinking??)
If the average load is equal to or less than the peak power production capacity, minus losses, then the system will work fine.
Musk is working on solutions for present and future needs. Whether he succeeds or not is still to be determined. He has a lot on the line. I don't understand all the naysayers.
My understanding that the source of at least some of the battery packs intended for use in this application are battery packs no longer suitable for transportation use due to drop in capacity, but also a long way from EOL in terms of usable capacity where the size and weight of the batteries is much less critical. i.e. A second life for retired lithium packs from Tesla cars, I believe in certain applications all new batteries would also be used.. All would eventually be recycled.
I haven't been keeping the closest of tabs on the super-battery factories, but there are other chemistries than Li-ion that may make a lot more sense for industrial scale.
If there's any prayer of intermittant power sources becoming more ubiquitous and a much larger %age of the overall capability, we're going to need storage to bridge the excess to demand time-wise.
If there's any prayer of intermittant power sources becoming more ubiquitous and a much larger %age of the overall capability, we're going to need storage to bridge the excess to demand time-wise.
I'm curious to know what else is out there for battery technology.
I think that battery technology, along with solar energy technology, offers a lot if they can be developed further. Fortunately, in the case of batteries, the market supports the necessary research.
I saw a computer power management system that provided "seamless" transition from service power loss to generator power. It used a big room full of lead acid batteries to accomplish this. Cars require big power storage in the lightest package possible.
I hope Mr. Musk is successful in his quest to improve battery technology. We would all win.
Llyn Stwlan reservoir is a large battery near me https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ffestiniog_Power_Station
China has much of the worlds supply of Lithium and also has a lot of poverty stricken little children to mine it very economically so that the rest of the world can continue to happily waste energy!
I think you mean the other half of the equation, the rare earth magnets.
Some of the zinc - air battery tech looks like it has some promise. It's not remotely dense in terms of KJ/m^3, which is less important for installation-type applications (vs consumer electronics/automobiles), but *seems* (we'll see!) a chemistry better suited to low-cost/KJ over its lifetime. Think some folks are looking at building shipping-crate style modules that can be sent to/from a central factory for maintenance/rebuild rather than anything happening on-site.
Yeah, reservoirs and pumping is, at present, the best "battery" we've got.
I don't know where I read it, but I saw a comment that a lot of the excessive power usage in Austrailia for A/C could be solved by proper building codes - requiring adequate insulation, instead of just installing a bigger A/C unit.
Nevertheless - load balancing through batteries, energy efficienciy measures and also solar power can help a lot.
Johan-Kr
Nevertheless - load balancing through batteries, energy efficienciy measures and also solar power can help a lot.
Johan-Kr
Sorry, maybe we should put their billions of little jobless children to some other use then.
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China has much of the worlds supply of Lithium and also has a lot of poverty stricken little children to mine it very economically so that the rest of the world can continue to happily waste energy!
Argentina, Chile, Australia are the world's largest producers. China gets most of its lithium from Australia.
if you're ever in West Orange NJ, it's the place to see where the iron-nickel battery was invented by Thomas Edison. Thomas Edison National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)
(It's a great place to take Cub Scouts!)
iron-nickel batteries are still in use because of their ruggedness.
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