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They are one of the early ones: http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/22/business/flywheels-to-powe... But it's been 20 years and no flywheels ever made it to market.
Actually, they did sell a whole pile of them for ride-through power in hospitals and other facilities where power availability is critical.
That's still cool though - are they still in use? Why don't they sell them now?
This is getting out of hand if you ask me. The hitcounters of the nineties that another HN submission talked about a few days ago were nothing compared to this.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually, they did sell a whole pile of them for ride-through power in hospitals and other facilities where power availability is critical.
For land installation right? Not cars? That's still cool though - are they still in use? Why don't they sell them now?
Flywheels have always intrigued me, the planetary rotation is testimony to how much energy can be stored in one :) A couple of billion years and it's still spinning.
A few years ago AFS had a car prototype with a cluster of bottle sized high speed flywheels in the trunk and under the hood, it was quite a neat package but very expensive and limited range.
The most practical use of flywheels for transportation was probably the gyro bus, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyrobus another concept that just won't die until someone brings enough garlic, silver and wooden stakes.
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> We don't need this anymore My understanding is that AC/DC conversion is lossy and rule of thumb figures online quote 10-15%. > I also suspect the reliability is not there yet for 20 year operation. A lot of products already on the market have 20 years lifespans quoted, eg. Socomec FLYWHEEL, Vycon. > I've read about a large number of companies that have tried, and yet they all seem to vanish. Sources? I am genuinely…
> My understanding is that AC/DC conversion is lossy We don't need to do this all that often, and the flywheel is lossy too. And you can get 96% efficient power supplies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_PLUS Plus you can use http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotary_converter and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor-generator which are basically the same thing, minus the energy storage part. > A lot of products already on the…
Sure, even looking at that page 10-15% does seem a regular rule of thumb though. Many devices in the home (computers, displays, etc.) require DC. Photovoltaics produce DC, but not necessarily at a level suitable for variable, direct load by devices. So in a sustainable source powered situation, you have to pay for this loss somewhere: either in storage or inversion or both. It would seem that the 1979 author was refering to the flywheel's potential toremove the 'double tax' for storage and inversion. The listed 'motor generator' benefits (load and spike isolation, etc.) would also seem to apply.
> this one is high profile and recent
Beacon are often referenced. It seems they were revived and the major facility they built is still in operation. They cited a combination of DOE policy and 'the current political environment' as their cause of temporary bankruptcy.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually, they did sell a whole pile of them for ride-through power in hospitals and other facilities where power availability is critical.
For land installation right? Not cars? That's still cool though - are they still in use? Why don't they sell them now?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
If its written by the government, its required to be in the public domain.
If it's written by the federal government, it is not protected by copyright. But that does not mean it will necessarily be released . If you can't get your hand on it, the lack of copyright protection won't do you any good.