News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:New UK record for wind power set today – 21.81 GW between... by standeven on Thursday December 21, 2023 @12:33PM (#38723637)
Waiting for patents to file before public disclosure of the tech, but I can give you a basic overview. We use mass instead of speed to store energy. This is slightly less efficient but way less expensive; speed requires magnetic bearings and operating in a vacuum and many other expensive design constraints. Other flywheels operate in the 7500 - 100k RPM range, and we spin at 2000.
Re:New UK record for wind power set today – 21.81 GW between... by lolc on Thursday December 21, 2023 @01:40PM (#38724774)
If you forego magnetic bearings and vacuum, the energy drains within hours, no?
Re:New UK record for wind power set today – 21.81 GW between... by standeven on Thursday December 21, 2023 @05:07PM (#38727724)
Bearing and windage losses scale down drastically with lower speeds, so only slightly worse than other flywheel systems. They are best for daily cycles or multiple-daily cycles. Things like load shifting, peak shaving, frequency regulation, etc. They are not well suited for storage beyond a few days.