A US-based energy storage company has taken a remarkable step in the use of renewable energy. The tests have proven the success of battery storage systems that will serve as an alternative to lithium-ion batteries. This new type of system is expected to operate for 20 years without loss of performance. Studies are continuing for the technology that will end the battery era.
Solar and wind energy are ready to save the world, but there is a huge problem: The weather is not always sunny or windy. Today we are almost entirely dependent on lithium-ion batteries to store green energy. However, that annoying truth that we know well from our smartphones also appears here; Batteries wear out over time, their capacity decreases, and worst of all, they run the risk of explosion. Here, US-based energy giant Qnetic has pushed the button to implement a completely mechanical and “ageless” technology that will dethrone this kingdom of batteries.
The company opens the door to a new era in the energy world by building the world’s largest and most extraordinary test center in Shanghai.
NOT A CHEMICAL REACTION, IT’S A COMPLETE MECHANICAL MIRACLE
This system, developed by Qnetic and named “Pulsar”, uses neither chemicals nor dangerous acids to store energy. Everything is based on a completely mechanical law of physics. Imagine a huge wheel spinning at tremendous speed in a frictionless environment inside a vacuum chamber. When excess electricity is produced in the grid, this wheel starts to rotate and traps the energy as movement. At that critical moment when electricity is needed, the rotating wheel triggers a generator and pumps the energy back to the grid within seconds.
Moreover, this system completely eliminates the risk of “thermal runaway”, which is the biggest nightmare of traditional batteries and causes fires that are impossible to extinguish. Since there is no chemical reaction in it, it neither poses a risk of explosion nor leaves harmful waste to the environment.
FIRST DAY PERFORMANCE EVEN 20 YEARS LATER
What makes this technology truly unique is its time challenge. While your phone batteries drain rapidly within a few years, this giant flywheel system called Pulsar can continue to work with its first day’s high performance even after 20 years. This means billions of dollars in battery replacement costs for massive data centers, microgrids and industrial facilities will be history.
The world’s largest dedicated flywheel test cell, under construction in Shanghai, is designed to test an unprecedented amount of energy. Once Qnetic, collaborating with global experts in high-speed spinning tests, has fully verified the safety of these massive mechanical wheels, the cards will be dealt again in the world of energy storage. In the near future, factories and cities may be illuminated with these giant wheels that never age, instead of dangerous batteries.
Source: Sozcu
