California want better batteries , which is why the electric company Southern California Edison is design a readiness of , let ’s say , improper energy repositing solutions , include huge 450 - gallon ice packs . Why ? It all has to do with a little - known problem with California ’s wind instrument - reliant galvanising grid .
steer turbines , you see , spin mirthfully into the night , engender surplus power even when there are n’t enough masses awake to apply it . That ’s why electricity is often cheaper at night . Sometimes , the place stick so nonsensical that theprice of electrical energy actually drops below zero and becomes negatively charged . The most obvious solution is to put in that energy until demand is up again , but building batteries with one C of megawatts of capacity — enough to power millions of lightbulbs — is a tall task .
of late , theNew York Times reports , Southern California Edison arrest a rivalry to figure how to keep up after retiring a atomic generator and natural gas units . Instead of constructing many novel power plans , the galvanic company decided to build up dependable battery , including what will be thelargest lithium barrage fire in the domain .
Credit : Ice vigor
Even more intriguing , though , is theIce Bear system , which apply ice for aviation conditioning . ( AC is , of grade , a vast strain on the electric gridiron in the hot California summer . ) The Ice Bear system freezes water inside 450 - congius rooftop tank using supernumerary vigor during the dark . As the ice melts during the 24-hour interval , it ’s used to cool off air that is pump down at heart for air conditioning .
The Ice Bear system has been used at a comparatively small scale for a few years , but this will be its material test for scale up . The contract bridge with Southern California Edison is bigger than all of its others combine . If galvanic grids are ever belong to become more reliant on malarkey and solar farms — which ca n’t just shove more fossil fuel into the furnace ( like coal or power plants ) when electrical energy demand is up in the afternoon — we’ll want bigger and good batteries . Maybe even those made of ice . [ New York Times ]
Top image : Wind turbine in California . AP Photo / Rich Pedroncelli
CaliforniaEnergy
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