So, I think a lot these days about electricity, alternative power generation methods and storing that electricity. It seems that we (man that is) has been pretty complacent when it comes to finding new ways to store electricity. Seems pretty counter intuitive to me when you consider that the items we are integrating into our daily lives more and more require a power cord to be connected to them at some point.  Some of the things that I have thought quite a bit about are things like pumping water into a tower to be used to push a turbine later when power is needed.  It turns out this is probably the most widely used, large-scale, power storage method in use today. They don’t pump water into a tower, rather water is pumped into large cavities like mines or resevoirs.  But, the coolest thing I have seen is using a flywheel to store electricity.  Apparently it is one of the most efficient methods of storing large amounts of electricity for short or long term applications.  I somehow stumbled upon this today while thinking about storing electricity.  Beacon Power has a test flywheel array at PG&E’s San Ramon, CA testing facility. I may have to go over there and check this thing out. A low power motor is used to spool up the flywheel slowly (as there is no need to do it quickly) and maintain the high speed that it spins at. A vacum surrounds the flywheel to help reduce friction from air and magnet bearings reduce friction allowing for a more efficient design, less maintenance and a longer useful life.

Pretty damn cool.

tags: batteries, beacon power, electricity, flywheels, pg&e, storing electricity