Major Walking Dead Spoiler: Energy Storage For The Zombie Apocalypse
To be honest, this is just a wild guess, but how else do you suppose they kept the lights on for the most awkward dinner party in the world during that last episode of The Walking Dead? Sure, they made a big deal about their ground-mounted solar array, but it looked barely large enough to power one McMansion, let alone a whole gated community full of them. More to the point, where was the energy storage?
The answer has got to be a microgrid with high-penetration renewable energy plus energy storage, which leads us to a zinc bromide flow battery….
Group Hug: Energy Storage For The Zombie Apocalypse
As it happens, US-based Raytheon has just announced the successful test of a microgrid with energy storage and high-penetration renewable energy in the form of a solar array.
The system is a partnership with the companies Primus Power and Advanced Energy, along with the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), so group hug all you taxpayers.
The demonstration was designed to show that an off-grid facility could use 100% of the solar energy harvested on site, reducing — and potentially eliminating — the need to burn conventional fuel.
The heart of the system is Primus Power’s EnergyPod®, which is a zinc bromide flow battery. For those of you new to the topic, flow batteries store energy the form of two separate liquids, generating electricity when they flow adjacent to each other. Earlier versions were large and bulky, which limited their use, but next-generation flow batteries are more compact and efficient.
Partly because the two liquids are stored in separate tanks, flow batteries have virtually no exposure to fire hazards and other risks, making them ideal for urban energy storage, as well as energy storage for sensitive facilities.
Speaking of sensitive facilities, here’s a question for all of you Walking Dead fans out there. Let’s say that the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta had one of these solar-powered microgrids with zinc flow battery energy storage — would the Last Scientist on Earth still need an excuse to blow the place up?
Energy Storage For The US Military
Also speaking of sensitive facilities, if you’re thinking military use, then go run out and buy yourself a cigar.
The new microgrid was demonstrated at NREL, and the next step in the plan is to give it a spin in the real world, at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California.
For more details on the project, we went over to the US Department of Defense’s environmental research programs and looked up Project #EW-201224, “Zinc Bromide Flow Battery Installation for Islanding and Backup Power.”
The general idea is to increase energy security at the base, while also reducing energy consumption and energy costs.
A microgrid with energy storage can save money partly by maximizing the use of on-site energy, in this case solar energy. Depending on the size of the system and the need for power, energy storage also enables you to save money on grid energy costs, by taking advantage of “demand-response” incentives.
Along with our sister site Planetsave, CleanTechnica has been covering a number of new flow battery technologies, so if you’re wondering why they settled on a zinc bromide energy storage system (Zn/Br ESS), here’s the money quote:
…By incorporating innovative Zn/Br charging algorithms, intelligent power management, and simple cell construction, the proposed Zn/Br ESS may demonstrate the low-cost energy storage capable of deep discharge levels, high reliability, scalability, and operational safety needed to realize implementation across DoD facilities.
The Miramar installation is expected to demonstrate that the solar-enabled microgrid will provide seamless backup power when the facility is “islanded” or off grid in case of an emergency. The emergency angle explains why the microgrid system also needs to incorporate smart controls that pare energy consumption down to the minimum.
Energy Storage For Everybody
The Defense Department is looking forward to a successful gig for the system at Miramar, with the expectation that it will serve as a best-practices model for other facilities.
Not for nothing but Miramar has already established itself as a model for self-sufficiency with renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy storage under the Defense Department’s Net Zero initiative.
Back in 2012 a landfill gas project went online, which at the time provided about 45% of Miramar’s renewable energy. The rest is proved by the base’s existing solar panels along with something they refer to as “special energy and resource-efficient equipment.”
That still only accounted for half the power used at Miramar, with the local San Diego grid making up the balance. The missing piece of the puzzle is energy storage, and it looks like that’s going to be in place sooner rather than later.
It’s also worth noting that the system could work in reverse — if disaster befalls the San Diego grid, Miramar could continue to provide power support to the civilian sector.
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Image credit (screenshot): Microgrid with energy storage courtesy of Primus Power.
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Tina,
You’re one of the best integrated marketers, a combination of journalism and corporate PR, on the planet. By any chance, did you help the republican senators write the letter to Iran? Did you integrate pop culture references into a breezy style for Senator Cotton et al? This is the letter sent the other day directly from 46 republican senators to Iran essentially saying any deal is void. Pretty much a treasonous act by our republicans – going around Obama on foreign policy. Probably the same republicans who give our defense department contractors (like Raytheon) everything they want. Nothing would help revenues and profits better than World War III. Maybe profits can be folded into battery storage. Maybe sell some cool renewables, too. Kidz like renewables and Middle East wars, regardless of merits.
This makes no sense at all.
I’m sure it wouldn’t make sense to some, many people aren’t well read. This is treason:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/11/us/biden-rebukes-senate-republicans-over-letter-to-iran.html
It’s the same republicans who are going after environmental protection and renewables. Those same republican interest groups are involved.
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/03/09/merchants-doubt-easier-sell-truth/
I read the NYT too. What has that silly GOP tantrum got to do with Tina’s reporting on energy grids? That is what doesn’t make sense.
The takeaway from this article on electrical storage, and the frequency of this topic on Cleantechnica and throughout the renewables world, is that the future seems to be this: the grid is going off grid. Instead of Micro grids emulating the “real” grid, the reverse is happening. The grid, based on solar, wind, batteries and back up generators is basically an off grid system
so totally true.
thinking is still based on utility and known tecnics, but it will be a total overhaul of energy produce and use. still talking about energy mix.
the mix will be cheap electricity, run by Solar and Wind power and Storage.
EV cars and heatpump house heating. all electric.
Not so much “off grid” as nested grids that are connected but can island as needed. And control flow across their “border” in order to reduce costs.
And those local micro grids will be mini versions of the larger grid, including storage, transmission, planning, demand and supply forecast, etc.