Another solution for storing electricity generated by renewable sources such as wind and solar power is being developed by researchers at The University of Nottingham – the supercapattery.
Dr George Chen in the University’s School of Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Dr Christian Klumpner in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering are combining the benefits of a supercapacitor and a battery. Constructed from carbon nanotubes and chemically engineered with traditional battery materials, the supercapattery will offer the high electrical energy storage capacity of a battery and the fast charge/discharge rates of a supercapacitor.
The supercapattery could be used for powering portable electronics such as notebook computers, but the researchers are also investigating the potential of using arrays of supercapatteries which would offer energy storage on a large scale.
While expensive to build, the supercapattery would also be both flexible and versatile enough to offer the crucial stability needed by the national grid in the event of a national power surge.
"Currently about five per cent of the power of the national grid is standing by in reserve (often thermal) in case of a power surge – for example when everyone puts their kettle on after the football match has finished. To have generators on standby costs a great deal of money, whereas these devices could be called into action at very short notice and provide extra power within a very short timeframe." says Dr. Chen.
The "putting on the kettle" scenario isn’t a joke. The BBC reports football mass synchronised tea-break have caused problems for the National Grid in the past, which operates the high-voltage transmission network in England and Wales. The Grid predicted a 700MW power consumption at half-time during the first match of the World Cup
