They are five 300 kVA units strung together.
A single flywheel with that much juice spooled into it has some inherent safety hazards surrounding it.
What is an earthquake, for instance, or an explosion knocked it out of its saddles?
Just like an exploding battery, except this one would want to walk while it destroys.
According to the reference, it's a 500 megajoule energy source. The terms are equivalent if you only need the power for a second.
A salt in battery, of course...
Cheers
Sodium Nickel Chloride ('Zebra') batteries are interesting. Very reliable, very efficient, good energy density, no exotic chemicals, but they need to be kept at something like 300'C. For a fridge-sized pack with decent insulation, this isn't much of a problem.
Trouble is, GE bought the innovative company which did most of the development.
Cheers
That would sort of worry me, like liquid-salt heat exchange loops in solar generation plants. What happens if it cools down when you're on vacation?
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
It freezes, and needs heating up again before use, it's no big deal. The vehicle versions take IIRC about 24 hours to heat up using heater pads in the battery pack. Too fast would be a problem.
Of course, if you're not using it, you either let it freeze, or use power to keep it hot.
Cheers
Or leaks?
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