top of page

The Solutions and what might happen

 

Between now, 2015, and by the end of this decade, 4 things wil quickly change the game.

 

Battery storage becomes cost effective.

 

Wind turbines become even cheaper.

 

Solar PV also gets cheaper.

 

Mid 2020s the younger generation will collectively have a "light bulb moment" realize a lot more needs to be done a hell of a lot quicker and will demand it. (my opinion).

 

 

Battery Storage.

 

Predicted to become cost competitive this decade.

 

( Note: When these articles refer to $ per kilowatt, they are refering to the manufacturing cost or purchase cost of the battery. Not the usage cost which is what appears on your power bill, eg 25 cents per kilowatt. )

 

 

DOMESTIC STORAGE will become cheap enough for people to add it to their home solar.

 

Article on how quickly battery costs are dropping. Expected to get down to $100 / kW this decade (2020).

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/battery-storage-costs-plunge-below100kwh-19365

 

 

Panasonic: Domestic storage. http://cleantechnica.com/2012/06/06/energy-storage-for-homes-panasonic-europ/

 

TESLA are building a factory to mass produce their batteries for their vehicles. ( Not just for vehicles though, can be used for anything.

 

Tesla: Bloomberg article

 

 

GRID STORAGE:

 

Redflow: Zinc Bromide Flow Battery. Large battery backup

 

Fast charging Lithium ion batteries: Singapore NTU

 

YOUNICOS are building batttery storage for the Grid for  

frequency and voltage Stabilisation eliminating the need

for Coal and Gas Peaking plants that do this now.

 

Younicos: German battery storage company. ".....battery systems

that it says can stabilise the grid faster, cheaper and with

greater precision that conventional generation."

Reneweconomy article

 

5 MW unit enters service: "The 5 MW battery is claimed to provide

the same control power as a conventional (coal) 50 MW turbine."

 

 

ecoult UltraBattery:

Combined Ultrasupercapacitor and a lead-acid battery

in a common electrolyte. Link 

 

Ambri: Liquid Metal Battery. Ambri

 

Envia Systems: Achieved 400 watt-hour per kilogram @ $125 per kilowatt-hour (cost of battery, not the electricity usage cost). This is about half the cost of Lithium. Electric vehicle range could be extended up to something like 480 km. Link to Scientific American article.

 

 

 

  BASIC TECHNICAL EXPLAINATIONS

 

AC :- Alternating Current

 

  • The electricity that comes out of our house and work power points.

  • The electricity travels in one direction through the two wires, then changes direction.

  • Earth connection is for safety (and a return path but don't worry about this if you are not technical)..

  • Usually used for high voltage and longer distances because the conversion from one voltage to another is cheaper than DC.

 

DC :- Direct Current

 

  • Comes out of batteries or a Plug pack ( DC power supply) used for charging portable devices for example.

  • Travels in one direction. The electricity comes out of one terminal and always returns into the other.

  • Usually used for low volt applications.

  • HOWEVER NOT ALWAYS:

 

 

DC is better for long distances, say after 250 / 300 km or greater depending on the circumstances.

 

  • AC looses less in the conversion up to higher voltages and back down.

  • However AC looses a lot more in the transmission lines.

  • DC conversion looses more but once you get past a couple of hundred kms, the savings in line loss out way the conversion loss.

  • This is only applicable if you don’t have any connections in the middle (for a DC line).

 

There are plenty of DC transmission lines in the world. The Bass Straight interconnect between Tasmania and Victoria is a DC line capable of carrying 500 mega watts at 400 kilo volts DC.

 

DC in the Home:

 

A lot of appliances are DC even though you have AC coming out of your power points.

This is because its cheaper and easier to convert AC up and down to different voltages.

 

ALSO, lower voltages means higher currents which lose more energy travelling down the cables.

The Power, P, lost in a given cable is proportional to the square of the current, "I".

 

Ploss=I x I / R. "R" being resistance of the cable (including Impedance but I'm not going into that here).

 

 

 

DOD: DEPTH of DISCHARGE

 

This is particularily important for batteries to get the maximum life. Generally the smaller the discharge, the longer the life.

 

For example:

 

Prius normally uses less than 10% at a time. This enables the Prius NiMH battery bank to last 300,000 cycles Toyota has a warranty for 180,000 km for the battery. This is how there are Prius taxis in the world that have reached 400,000 to 500,000 kms on the original battery pack.
 

 

 

 

The Merit order and the Spiral of Death

THE MERIT ORDER

 

A basic explaination on how power companies get paid.

 

Coal power generation generally earns $30 to $40 per mega watt. However with the Merit order, they get the Pool price which can be higher.

 

So if Black Coal power is being purchased at the same time, then Brown Coal gets the higher Black Coal price instead.

 

If everybody turns their Airconditioners on during a very hot summers day, then Brown Coal could get thousands of dollars per mega watt because sometimes the Gas Peaking Plants that only get used occassionaly can charge thousands of dollars per mega watt.

 

Here is a more detailed explaination by Ben Courtice from www.yes2renewables.org

 

As the fossil fuel companies earn a lot of money from the Merit order effect, I encourage you to purchase battery storage (the price will come down over the next 3 - 5 years). This will start a spiral of death for them.

Anchor 16
A 17 ACDC
bottom of page