My friends! Have you ever wondered where the electricity comes from when we turn off the lights at night, enjoy the cool air conditioning, or charge our phones? Especially on cloudy, windless days, solar panels and wind turbines seem to “rest,” but our lives are still full of light and convenience. The secret weapon behind this is energy storage technology. What is energy storage
Energy storage, in simple terms, is to “save” the generated energy, and then “take out” when needed. It’s like the candy you collected when you were little, hiding it from you until one day when you really want something sweet, you have something to enjoy. For energy, energy storage is equally important, especially with the popularity of clean energy such as solar energy and wind energy, they produce electricity sometimes no, at this time, energy storage has become a superhero to balance supply and demand.
Members of the Energy storage family
Energy storage technology can be more than one, they each have their own advantages, let me introduce you to a few “star members”.
Physical energy storage
You’ve seen a hydroelectric plant, right? But have you ever seen the reservoir on the top of the hill? Pumped storage power plants are a cool way to physically store energy. Excess electricity from the sun and wind during the day is used to pump water from low to high reservoirs, and then at night or when needed, the water is brought down to drive turbines to generate electricity. It’s like being on a water slide, only this time, the water is sending us electricity as it slides up and down. Chemical energy storage, the charm of batteries
Chemical energy storage, the name sounds a little tall, in fact, we use it every day – mobile phone batteries, electric vehicle batteries, are its representatives. In particular, lithium-ion batteries, which play a big role in the home solar energy system, the sun during the day, the electricity is stored in the battery, and the night is taken out to use, environmental protection and convenient.
Thermal energy storage, warm storage
Heating in winter, cooling in summer, thermal energy storage is a good helper. It stores heat in special materials and releases it when needed. For example, solar thermal power stations absorb sunlight and heat molten salt during the day, and at night, molten salt releases heat to generate electricity, and the warmth continues.