Where we've been

Large scale storage of energy is a pretty new concept, except for batteries, which have not been used on large scales. The only technology to have been used to store large amounts of energy for the grid is pumped storage, which has been used since the 1950s.

The extent of our energy storage in the past has mostly consisted of each individual storing the energy that they would need, whether it be through piles of wood or tanks of fuel. The only real large scale technology that has been in use for a long period of time has been the idea that building dams stores up the energy in the water for when you need it, which is likely why pumped storage is the one large scale energy storage mechanism that has been adopted.

There has been a little bit done with attaching batteries to wind turbines in the past. In fact, this was one of the early uses of batteries, such as in the Brush Windmill displayed on the right, which is thought to be the first automatically operating wind turbine for electricity generation. Unfortunately for the most part, Battery Technology has not changed much whereas the magnitude of the energy we need to store has increased greatly.

This is one of those interesting sections where we are seeing most of the history unfolding before our eyes. This page will be updated with information on attempts at systems that become proven obsolete through attempts at implementation.