Tag Archives: 247Solar

247Solar and STAG-Tech to collaborate on round-the-clock clean power solutions

247Solar Inc and STAG-Tech have announced a collaboration agreement to combine STAG-Tech’s innovative compact wind turbines with 247Solar’s HeatStorE™ long-duration thermal battery to provide turnkey, round-the-clock clean power solutions for a wide range of off-grid applications such as mine sites.

STAG-Tech’s turbines capture the fastest wind speeds at significantly lower cost than conventional large turbines, according to the company. Packed into a 40 ft (12.1 m) shipping container, STAG-Tech’s turbines can be transported to all but the most remote locations via standard freight truck. Minimal concrete foundations make installation fast and affordable, with the tilt-up turbines able to be raised in under an hour, lowered again for storm protection, and easily relocated, preventing stranded assets, STAG-Tech added.

247Solar’s HeatStorE operates almost like an electrochemical battery but has significant advantages at longer durations, according to the company. Electric resistance coils use electricity from wind or photovoltaic (PV) installations to heat inexpensive silica sand. Energy is thereby stored as ultra-high temperature heat (up to 1,000℃) for up to 20 hours at a fraction of the cost of batteries. When needed, a specialised turbine reconverts the heat to electricity.

“Uniquely, 247Solar’s innovative turbine can do this without combustion, as atmospheric-pressure air is passed through the thermal storage and heated to sufficient temperature to drive the turbine and generate electricity without burning fuel,” the company said.

By adding an external combustor, the battery can produce fully dispatchable backup power 24/7 hours a day, 365 days a year by also burning a variety of fuels, including hydrogen. This enables customers to replace traditional diesel gensets at remote locations and realise 24/7 highly reliable operation with increased renewables penetration, significant fuel savings and dramatically lower lifetime operating costs, 247Solar said.

“Together, the two systems provide an excellent complement to solar PV, enabling customers to reduce their reliance on costly electrochemical batteries and diesel gensets, thereby drastically reducing their Levelised Cost of Energy,” the companies said.

Sean Zamick, STAG-Tech CEO, said: “We are very pleased to be working with 247Solar, a fellow distributed energy innovator. Our first planned collaboration will be the first of many exciting projects to help reduce electricity costs, greenhouse gas emissions and improve the reliability of C&I microgrids around the world.”

Bruce Anderson, CEO of 247Solar, said: “STAG-Tech shares our goal of producing low-cost, factory-built emissions-free energy solutions that are scalable, easy to install and inexpensive to maintain. We look forward to working with them at mines, industrial sites and rural electrification projects throughout the world.”

247Solar’s HeatStorE to help miners integrate more renewables into the power mix

A new thermal battery from 247Solar Inc, a business with origins at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is set to help miners incorporate more renewable energy sources into the power mix at their remote operations.

The HeatStorE™ long duration thermal battery operates almost like an electrochemical battery but has significant advantages at longer durations, according to 247Solar.

“The basic principle of the thermal battery is rather simple,” the company explained. “Electric resistance coils heat an inexpensive thermal storage medium (silica sand) using low-cost excess electricity, eg from intermittent solar and wind power sources. Energy is stored as ultra-high temperature heat (up to 1,000°C) – at a fraction of the cost of batteries.”

Whenever needed, a specialised turbine reconverts the heat to electricity in this process, according to 247Solar. This turbine can generate electricity without combustion, as atmospheric-pressure air is passed through the ‘thermal storage’ and drives the ‘turbine’ to generate it.

By adding a combustor, the battery can also produce even more dispatchable back-up power, ideally using an emission-free fuel such as green hydrogen in the combustion process, 247Solar says.

“This is also how the battery can provide spinning reserves,” it said. “The innovative approach is designed to replace traditional diesel gensets at remote mines, as it provides 24/7 highly reliable operation with higher renewables penetration, significant fuel savings, and dramatically lower lifetime operating costs.”

Bruce Anderson, 247Solar’s CEO, said: “HeatStorE combines two inventions that are part of 247Solar’s Ultra-High Temperature Technology Platform, the 247Solar Heat2Power™ Turbine and the 247Solar Thermal Storage System. Combining these two proven technologies ensures that HeatStorE is also extremely reliable.

“We expect more than 20-year operations with little or no performance degradation.”

This new approach consists of a factory-made, shipping-size container filled with sand that is heated by resistance coils. It also comes with low operating and maintenance costs, according to the company.

“The combination of robustness and life-cycle cost advantages will enable mining companies to implement new power plant concepts with fewer diesel engines – ultimately without any at all,” 247Solar said.

The typical storage duration of HeatStorE is in the range of 4-20 hours, which also allows for substantial grid-support and load shifting. The cost per kWh drops rapidly with duration, it claims. Behind the meter in industrial applications, the battery can also convert otherwise-wasted hot process exhaust to electricity.