Ian suggests you should ask for justification for every decision your installer makes. The potential benefits of Advanced Rail Energy Storage are being explored in the US. The idea involves creating a power plant on wheels, with the motor of a railway car being powered by renewable energy as it goes up hill and then giving that electricity back as the car goes downhill with the motor in reverse. The technique claims to have 86% conversion efficiency and growing and could deliver anything between 20MW and 3GW of power. In Europe, there is an ongoing project called Ecopower, which aims to build a prototype for such a system at its headquarters near Berlin.
The potential benefits of Advanced Rail Energy Storage are being explored in the US. The idea involves creating a power plant on wheels, with the motor of a railway car being powered by renewable energy as it goes up hill and then giving that electricity back as the car goes downhill with the motor in reverse. The technique claims to have 86% conversion efficiency and growing and could deliver anything between 20MW and 3GW of power. In Europe, there is an ongoing project called Ecopower, which aims to build a prototype for such a system at its headquarters near Berlin.