Velkess, a startup run by Bill Gray, uses fiberglass on a lightweight frame to prove his cheaper kinetic energy recovery system can work in something like a renewable home installation.
When you think about clean, renewable, energy for the home, four things likely come to mind, solar panels, wind turbines, or hydroelectric turbines.
Renewable energy presents a problem, because lack of rain can shut down a hydroelectric turbine, lack of wind makes wind turbines useless, and at night, the sun doesn’t shine. Renewable energy intermittence means that you’ll still have to count on some other source of power when the renewables fail.
The solution, of course, is energy storage, but these can be expensive. Rechargeable battery packs may seem like the obvious choice, but lifespan and expense will always remain a sticking point for anyone considering the technology.
Kinetic energy is another good prospect, but current technology is comprised of heavy steel flywheels operating in a vacuum. In order to keep the flywheels from destroying their enclosures, they need to be machined and balanced to extremely tight tolerances, which keeps costs high.
Velkess, a startup run by Bill Gray, uses fiberglass on a lightweight frame. The 50-odd prototypes have proven to be stable and flexible but, more importantly, less expensive than their solid-steel counterparts. In order to scale up the project, though, Gray needs to build a 750lb prototype to prove his cheaper kinetic energy recovery system can work in something like a renewable home installation, and for that, of course, he needs funding that he can’t supply himself. Check him out here on Kickstarter:
A slick presentation video-one would have being more impressed with some kwh estimates and targets for the proposal being included.A voice from the ancient past intrudes(university of washington-late 1970s)-if any one ever connected to connoco offers a pledge-refuse and callassasinsRus.Or better yet hack a drone and diy.
Still-bon chance to mr Grays efforts.
All such attempts started by me too improve the storage batts for these applications,have being pushed in a pit,with the photos and docs and burned-with RCMP assistance.
This is a mere glaze too the century long efforts of out bank and oil mafias to do the same.
Some range targets are useful-Nessisary house hold loads,run around3 kwh/day range.Many of these can be derrered for live intermitent power rather than battery draw,on a daily and or seasonal basis.In canada for instance heating the house,then cooling the frezzer inside it is common and very brain dead.As one comic pointed out in canada,for over half the year-your car trunk can be your freezer.Similar examples abound.
So-3kwh/day times 5 days for solar,7days for wind.All divided by the capacity factor of your storage system,that won’t quickly kill it(I use 50% for lead acid).Add 100 watt/hr per mile of decent ev performance.Consider combining sources-solar and wind cuts the battery capacity required in many areas by about half
,in many areas-weekly and or seasonally.