Green Energy

2220 readers

110 users here now

Everything about energy production and storage.

Related communities:

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

poVoq

SteveKLord

Australia struggling with oversupply of solar power (www.abc.net.au)

submitted 4 days ago by lemmee_in@lemm.ee to c/energy

23 comments fedilink hide all child comments

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

There's solutions that are kinda okay. For example, hot climates molten salt battery farms are becoming viable, and a big one is now in Australia. We need more battery farms, preferably not made it of lithium or other heavy metals that overheat and blow up. Molten salt batteries don't explode and last a long time, but need to be several hundred degrees to work and are insulated to keep heat in. If they fail they just cool down. If the place shuts down and cools off then they just need to heat them back up and are back in business.

Part of the solution to that is to use waste heat. If they incorporated them into existing power plants, factories, data centers, etc. then that waste heat is put to good use.

[–] Tobberone@lemm.ee 1 points 3 days ago

Interesting! Is the idea to use excess electricity to heat the sand and then reproduce power via Steam turbine? Any idea how the heat is extracted ?

I've heard of a similar plant, but that used mirrors to heat up the sand directly, rather than using it as a way to use excess electricity.

Same idea, different material is thermal storage in sand.