Storing Excess Solar and Wind Energy
One of the biggest drawbacks to solar and wind energy is that no electricity is generated on a calm night. One solution is to store the excess energy that is created during peak hours. Today's battery technology cannot do the job. Where there is plentiful water available, pumps can be operated to push water uphill, to be released to run turbines when the grid is not producing electricity.
Quartz reports on a new design uses cranes and concrete stacks as a way of storing energy. When excess power from a renewable energy source is available, the electricity that normally would be sold or wasted, is used to raise concrete blocks with a crane. When the solar or wind energy system is not producing, the crane lowers a concrete block, and that turns a generator that powers the local grid.
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