Wednesday, 20 May 2015

Hybrid batteries repurposed at Yellowstone National Park

You may remember previous posts about plans to repurpose electric vehicle batteries to such purposes as storing excess electricity at periods of low demand for use at times of peak load, or to store solar electricity for use when the Sun isn’t shining.

Here’s a practical example at Yellowstone National Park: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098326_used-toyota-hybrid-batteries-repurposed-at-yellowstone-national-park / original purpose battery packs hybrids electric cars useful battery energy-storage capacity diminishes over time packs no longer suitable for use in cars automotive service life battery packs usable capacity other applications reuse re-use recycle re-cycle power powering energy electricity storage cluster of buildings remote part of Yellowstone National Park used Toyota Camry Hybrid battery packs store energy generated solar panels Lamar Buffalo Ranch field campus system Camry Hybrid nickel-metal-hydride NiMH battery packs recovered Toyota dealers total of 85 kilowatt-hours storage capacity pack disassembled tested converted stationary energy-storage use battery-management systems Indy Power Systems re-wired in parallel arrays of 52 packs each solar array power Lamar Buffalo Ranch five buildings generates electricity power six average U.S. households USA U.S.A. U.S. Toyota onsite battery packs solar power storing energy sunlight isn't available more dependable source of power micro-hydro turbines capture energy from a nearby stream recycle batteries Toyota recycling program repurposing growth energy-storage business significant demand battery packs pair with solar arrays nickel-metal-hydride Toyota hybrids precious metals higher-capacity lithium-ion cells LiIon electric cars vehicle EV recycling secondary use battery packs landfills automotive service /