

How energy storage can make green energy economical - DaniFong
http://www.lightsail.com

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dougb
Another company addressing this problem is <http://www.aquionenergy.com/>
(CMU/Pittsburgh startup) In July they got $30M from kpcb.com

Its interesting that in Oct the price of electricity in Tx dropped to 0 (for
brief time). They were basically giving it away because there isn't a way to
store it. [http://cleantechnica.com/2011/10/20/wholesale-price-of-
elect...](http://cleantechnica.com/2011/10/20/wholesale-price-of-electricity-
drops-to-0-00-in-texas-due-to-wind-energy/)

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DaniFong
The price of energy sometimes goes _negative_ , even, because wind farms want
to recoup the renewable energy credit. Craziness!

Aquion is definitely an exciting competitor, and we wish them all the best. It
is an honor to have such a worthy competitor. I think we'll bring out the best
in each other.

They probably can reach the smallest scales better than we can, though I think
we're going to give them a run for their money at mid - larger scales. It will
be a challenge to come up with a system nearly so low cost and long lasting as
one using compressed air. There are also some very interesting things we can
do with low-grade heat, but that is another story. :-)

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joezydeco
In my area it will sometimes drop to zero or negative on early summer mornings
during heat waves. The peaker plants are still spun up and they need the load
to burn off the excess energy.

Granted, even a little negative doesn't mean you'll make money by turning on
all the lights and cranking the A/C. Distribution charges and etc usually add
a few cents per kWh.

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lxpk
What kind of action can we take? Your point is powerful and your solution is
revolutionary so I immediately want to be signed up for knowing more or
helping somehow. If those graphs were set to music as the video for a
kickstarter, I would donate.

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DaniFong
For, now, I think, really, the main thing is to get the idea out there. And
the opportunities for making a difference and making money with renewables +
storage are immense. If we get the message across to governments and utilities
and public utility commissions, we'll really start to see traction especially
for governments of islands and rapidly emerging economies.

Offpeak Energy + Storage < Peakers + Grid Upgrades

Promote the green solution (and save green!) :)

Also, we have a pretty awesome team already, but we're always looking for
exceptional people. jobs@lightsailenergy.com :)

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lxpk
That is some good infoporn right there to graph and prove the point: With LSE,
we could solve the energy storage and distribution problems from green energy.
Beautiful and reminds me of the best style of WIRED.

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frankydp
I am still surprised that more people do not take action in the T&D arena.
Huge gains in efficiency with available technology 25%+.

It always made sense in my mind to decrease loss before increasing
availability.

Great idea to razor focus by lightsail.

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DaniFong
Thanks! Transmission and distribution don't get the attention they deserve,
it's true. I think storage can change that, though :-)

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mikexstudios
It seems like the source of energy is wind. But how will LightSail actually
store the energy?

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DaniFong
We've yet to unveil the details and results of our technology, but here's a
preview:

We have a breakthrough energy storage technology called Regenerative Air
Energy Storage.

The concept is to store energy in compressed air -- a motor/generator first
drives a compressor, which stores air in a tank. To deliver stored energy, the
air comes out and is expanded, driving the motor/generator as a generator and
generating electricity.

Our innovation captures the heat energy of compression (the majority of the
energy in compressed air is stored in the form of heat) and allows us to
regenerate from it almost all of it in the form of useful energy.

We do this by spraying a fine water mist directly into the compressing and
expanding air. The high surface area and heat capacity of water rapidly
absorbs the heat of compression, and delivers it during expansion, to be
converted back into mechanical energy.

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mikexstudios
Thanks for the explanation! I'm working on energy storage too, but through
electrochemical means (ie. water splitting). It's always interesting to hear
how other people are tackling the problem. I look forward to hearing more
about LightSail in the future.

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fzzzy
This is really, really cool. I have been hoping to see green tech startups,
hopefully we will start to see a lot more.

