Storage Gravitational Energy for Small Scale Industrial and Residential Applications

• Published in: Inventions (Basel) Vol. 4; no. 4; p. 64
• Main Authors: Ruoso, Ana Cristina, Caetano, Nattan Roberto, Rocha, Luiz Alberto Oliveira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-12-2019
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Compressed air; Costs; Efficiency; Electricity; Energy conversion efficiency; Energy storage; gravitational energy; Photovoltaic cells; Potential energy; Renewable resources; Solar energy; Storage batteries; storage system
• ISSN: 2411-5134; 2411-5134
• DOI: 10.3390/inventions4040064

Photovoltaic cells produce electric energy in a short interval during a period of low demand and show high levels of intermittency. One of the well-known solutions is to store the energy and convert it into a more stable form, to transform again into electricity during periods of high demand, in which the energy has a higher value. This process provides economic viability for most energy-storage projects, even for the least efficient and most common, such as batteries. Therefore, this paper aims to propose a storage system that operates with gravitational potential energy, considering a small-scale use. The development of this methodology presents the mathematical modeling of the system and compares the main characteristics with other systems. The dimensions of the considered system are 12-m shaft, 5-m piston height, and 4 m of diameter; it presented an energy storage of 11 kWh. Also, it has an efficiency of about 90%, a lifetime of 50 years, and higher storage densities compared to other systems.