Q&A: Danielle Fong, Chief Scientist, LightSail Energy

http://fortune.com/2014/12/31/danielle-fong-lightsail-energy/

by foobarqux • 12 years ago

58 9 12 years ago

davedx• 12 years ago

The LightSail website has a nice comprehensive overview of how the technology works. Well worth a read: http://www.lightsail.com/

Particularly impressive: 90% thermal efficiency.

I want to invest...

loceng• 12 years ago

What I'd like to see a matrix comparing all of the different systems using compression or stored energy via non-battery means.

They mention low cow air storage tanks - comparable to what though?

mikeyouse• 12 years ago

The DOE has some great resources, I can't the one I'm thinking of, but this document:

http://energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/12/f5/Grid%20Energy%...

On page 30 has a matrix of the different attributes of different energy storage systems (but unfortunately not cost or capacity).

partition• 12 years ago

The part at the end where she is against top-down thinking, and instead promotes bottom-up inductive thinking where you first figure out how to make airplane parts well before tackling the whole aircraft, is a lesson I've learned the hard way an almost unhealthy number of times. She also seems to understand the difference between leadership and management.

Other than that, the 90% figure seems pretty believable to me. If you are playing with containers of gas, you can do stuff that is quite close to the physics textbooks' chapters on thermodynamics. The water is probably so they can get to 750 kwh per tank.

Are there any other processes where the engineered efficiency is that close to ideal? Pumped-storage hydroelectric is close.

Ntrails• 12 years ago

"The part at the end where she is against top-down thinking, and instead promotes bottom-up inductive thinking where you first figure out how to make airplane parts well before tackling the whole aircraft"

I initially thought this line was a parody and the article would be full of buzzwords, not the case!

pjc50• 12 years ago

It says 90% thermal efficiency, which makes me wonder what the electrical efficiency is. Also, "500 hours reliable operation" doesn't look great.

fpp2• 12 years ago

Combined heat and power (CHP) might be indicative for that - nevertheless 90% roundtrip what they say on their website is very impressive.

Compressed Air storage has been around for some time and one of the limits is of course the low energy density. They mention 750 kWh modules containerize - how many containers will that be at what pressure - 20 ? 50 ? 100 ? (so that they can still match safety standards while being closer than e.g. 1km to residential areas)

Q&A: Danielle Fong, Chief Scientist, LightSail Energy

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