An energy storage system (100) comprises a switched reluctance motor having a rotor (101) and a stator (102). The rotor is arranged to be capable of acting as a flywheel for storing energy. A casing (106) encloses the rotor and stator, and the rotor is supported for rotation on the casing. The energy storage system further includes a base (109) arranged to support the casing. The energy storage system is arranged such that, in use, the axis of the rotor is generally horizontal. An energy storage installation comprising a plurality of energy storage systems is also provided.

An energy storage and delivery system includes an elevator, where the elevator is operable to move one or more blocks from a lower elevation to a higher elevation to store energy (e.g., via the potential energy of the block in the higher elevation) and operable to move one or more blocks from a higher elevation to a lower elevation (e.g., by gravity) to generate electricity (e.g., via the kinetic energy of the block when moved to the lower elevation). The energy storage system can, for example, store electricity generated from solar power as potential energy in the stacked blocks during daytime hours when solar power is available, and can convert the potential energy in the stacked blocks into electricity during nighttime hours when solar energy is not available, and deliver the converted electricity to the electrical grid.

A renewable energy generation system includes a drive motor, a flywheel in mechanical communication with the drive motor, a generator in mechanical communication with the flywheel, a charge controller in electrical communication with the generator, a plurality of charge controller switches in electrical communication with the charge controller, a plurality of batteries in electrical communication with a respective charge controller switch, and a power management module in electrical communication with the plurality of charge controller switches. The drive motor effectuates rotation of the flywheel to generate stored rotational energy which is transferred to the generator as a load is placed upon the generator to maintain a constant speed of the drive motor. The power management module selectively opens or closes a charge controller switch to permit or inhibit the flow of electrical energy to a respective battery to reduce the electrical load placed upon the generator and drive motor.

Described herein is a method of manufacturing a housing for the stator of an axial flux permanent magnet machine. The housing has a cylindrical wall including a metal outer ring lined with a polymer inner ring. The method includes positioning the metal outer ring in an injection moulding machine, and with the injection moulding machine injection moulding a polymer resin onto an inner surface of the metal outer ring to fabricate the polymer inner ring. The polymer inner ring includes a gripping surface arranged to grip a portion of the outer ring, for example moulded around a formation on an inner surface of the metal outer ring. The housing is manufactured using the metal outer ring and the polymer inner ring.

A foldable touch screen display device made up of flexible or tiled display segments that can be folded from a compact state to an expanded state which also includes a power generation system. The form factor of the compact state is roughly the size of a typical handheld phone or smaller. The form factor of the expanded state is roughly the size of a larger phone or tablet computer, which may also include the mechanical functionality of a laptop. The device form factor may also be a flip phone configuration. Both folded states may include an integrated speaker and microphone. The power generation system utilizes the force applied to the hinge of the device to ultimately recharge the batteries embedded within the device. The device may further include sensors to indicate the position of each display segment. In one embodiment, a module attached to, situated within, or otherwise associated with at least one segment of the flexible display or rigid display may contain all or substantially all processing and memory, along with a communications system, which may be used in any folded state.

An arrangement for storing energy, the arrangement comprising a heat-charging mass (4) and a heat-transfer channeling (3), the arrangement also comprising a heating member (11) adapted to heat up the heat-charging mass (4). The arrangement comprises a boiler belonging to a discarded combustion power plant and converted to a thermal energy storage (2) by at least partly filling the boiler with the heat-charging mass (4).

This disclosure describes novel hybrid energy storage systems for providing short-term and long-term storage and delivery of electricity generated by any energy source including renewable energy sources such as solar energy and wind energy. The hybrid energy storage systems described herein have a higher overall real-world efficiency than energy storage systems currently available.

A gravitational energy storage system is provided that includes one or more tracks extending from a lower storage yard to an upper storage yard, a plurality of mass cars moveable along the track, a conveyance system comprising at least a first tether, and a first power module associated with the first tether to drive a respective one of the first tethers to move the plurality of mass cars from the lower storage yard to the upper storage yard, and to dispatch energy when the plurality of mass cars are moved from the upper storage yard to the lower storage yard.

A system includes a power distribution bus configured to distribute power from an electrical power source. The system also includes a plurality of electrical loads configured to receive portions of the power from the electrical power source. The system further includes a doubly-fed induction machine (DFIM) configured to reduce transmission impedance on the power distribution bus in response to a change in real or reactive power at one or more of the electrical loads, and reduce low frequency power oscillations at the source.

An energy production system including a hydraulic turbine system having undesirable electrical power output setpoints and identified safe electrical power output setpoints, an energy storage system, a connection connected to the energy storage system and to an electric machine of the hydraulic turbine system, and further connected to an AC power network, a device for determining the state of charge, a control circuit controlling a transfer of electrical power between the connection and the energy storage system, configured to receive an electrical power setpoint value (Reps) and configured to determine that this received electrical power setpoint value belongs to the undesirable electrical power output setpoint values to generate an electrical power transfer setpoint value (Epts), and an actual electrical power output setpoint value (Aepos) belonging to the safe electrical power output setpoint values, satisfying the relationship Reps=Epts+Aepos.