How Is Electricity Stored?

For most households in the US, electricity is reliably administered by local utility companies via complex power grids. In developing or low-income countries, though, many homes have no electricity at all: people are forced to rely on alternative power sources and energy storage options. With such varied sources and forms that electricity can take, efficient methods of energy storage are crucial, and new ones are still being developed. Let’s look at the various ways that electricity is stored. 

How to Store Electricity

Because solar energy is the cleanest and most plentiful form of renewable energy in the world, it’s especially important to store it efficiently. In one method, the sun’s energy is passively collected in a solar panel, also known as a photovoltaic cell. 

Alternatively, solar energy can be focused and intensified using a system of mirrors and water to create steam, which can then be propelled through a turbine to create electricity. However, this method creates extra steps and requires more equipment, so panels are more commonly used. That’s why you most often see solar panels in use on the roofs of company buildings and homes. 

Once it is generated, there are a few ways to store such electricity: 

• Supercapacitors. Supercapacitors can store far more energy than regular capacitors, and they do so on a scale large enough to produce significant power. They have a similar structure to capacitors, including positively and negatively charged plates that generate additional electrical energy.
• Molten salt. Molten salt is the liquified form of a compound like sodium chloride, and it can store the sun’s thermal energy at high concentrations. When heated to a high temperature, the salt can transfer heat to water, and the harnessed steam can power a turbine.
• Hydrogen and oxygen fuel cells. In this method, sunlight produces fuel (hydrogen and oxygen gases) through the use of a photoelectrochemical cell. The gases can then be recombined to create electricity in a fuel cell. Fuel cells also create water as their only byproduct. This makes them an appealing storage method, since water is not harmful to the environment. 
• Battery banks. In the US, most solar panels are connected directly to a local electric grid, eliminating the need for batteries. Countries without this infrastructure can connect battery banks to their solar panels, which is the simplest way to store solar power. This is a standalone, self-sufficient means of generating and storing solar electricity for any household.

Electricity Storage Solutions for Communities Without Power Grids

Solar battery banks can work equally well in countries without electrical infrastructure and in places merely experiencing a temporary power outage. The Elumis Foundation works to provide solar electricity to countries in Asia and Africa through the delivery of solar kits, which contain solar panels and batteries. These kits are available for anyone to purchase for future emergency purposes. For each kit purchased, another is donated to a family who needs one.

If you’re ready to store clean, safe, environmentally responsible solar electricity for yourself, or to learn more about how it can help others, visit the Elumis Foundation website today.

About the Elumis Foundation

The Elumis Foundation is a certified non-profit organization that was created in 2018 by siblings Eva and Michael Sakellakis (ages 15 and 13), looking to make a difference. Their father, who has his own successful solar business Elumis, helped and inspired them to form the foundation. Together they formed a Non-Profit 501(c)3 organization. This allows all donations to be tax-deductible by the donors. 100% of all donations received will fund the distribution of solar kits to be given to families who do not have electricity in impoverished areas of the world.

Elumis’ goal is to bring light to families and kids without that privilege through solar kits. These solar kits are powered through solar panels and can provide light and electricity for a family for up to 24 continuous hours. The Foundation has already made its first donation of 1000 solar kits in Vietnam and plans to distribute more kits to third-world countries throughout Africa, South East Asia, Central America, and India. Our goal is to distribute at least 100,000 kits to families in need.