Why we cannot store the
light when the lighting falls on batteries ? Why we cannot took too large volt batteries for this purpose
Why we cannot store the
light when the lighting falls on batteries ? Why we cannot took too large volt batteries for this purpose
A battery cannot withstand much voltage from lightning however .
From purely electrical charge calculations:
1. Each lightning strike has on average only five billion joules, that is equivalent to only around 1,400kWh of energy if we assume zero loss in transfer and storage
But there is more. If you want to see how much it would cost to do that:
To capture each and every lightning strike (land strikes only) we would most likely have to put extremely tall towers (think the Eiffel Tower) around a mile apart in a grid formation covering the entire globe. That is one tower for each of the almost 200,000,000sq m of the Earth's surface.
The equipment to capture the electrical energy in a strike would have to handle the extreme amount of charge in only around 30 milliseconds (approximate duration of a lighting strike). To handle that kind of instantaneous power, heavy conduction rods would need to be used, with ultra-heavy-duty electrical circuits and storage super-capacitors.
Although we do not have that technology in electrical energy storage yet, let's assume we do, and let's also assume that the energy system is 100 per cent efficient (understanding that most electrical systems when working optimally are less than 70-80 per cent efficient at best), then we can imagine a cost for each tower and electrical circuitry storage would be around £350,000. That is £67 trillion for the land equipment only, ie, with no flotation device for ocean and sea versions. Not to mention installation costs and regular maintenance, as well as the wire grid connecting all the towers together, and the havoc that will cause with air traffic... More money than the world has!
A battery cannot withstand much voltage from lightning however .
From purely electrical charge calculations:
1. Each lightning strike has on average only five billion joules, that is equivalent to only around 1,400kWh of energy if we assume zero loss in transfer and storage
But there is more. If you want to see how much it would cost to do that:
To capture each and every lightning strike (land strikes only) we would most likely have to put extremely tall towers (think the Eiffel Tower) around a mile apart in a grid formation covering the entire globe. That is one tower for each of the almost 200,000,000sq m of the Earth's surface.
The equipment to capture the electrical energy in a strike would have to handle the extreme amount of charge in only around 30 milliseconds (approximate duration of a lighting strike). To handle that kind of instantaneous power, heavy conduction rods would need to be used, with ultra-heavy-duty electrical circuits and storage super-capacitors.
Although we do not have that technology in electrical energy storage yet, let's assume we do, and let's also assume that the energy system is 100 per cent efficient (understanding that most electrical systems when working optimally are less than 70-80 per cent efficient at best), then we can imagine a cost for each tower and electrical circuitry storage would be around £350,000. That is £67 trillion for the land equipment only, ie, with no flotation device for ocean and sea versions. Not to mention installation costs and regular maintenance, as well as the wire grid connecting all the towers together, and the havoc that will cause with air traffic... More money than the world has!
