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Glubux's Powerwall (2016)

(secondlifestorage.com)
386 points bentobean | 4 comments | 01 Apr 25 15:49 UTC | HN request time: 0.638s | source
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ianferrel ◴[01 Apr 25 17:00 UTC] No.43549073[source]▶
>the solution came with rearranging and adjusting the cells to ensure the packs worked more efficiently.

>Glubux even began disassembling entire laptop batteries, removing individual cells and organizing them into custom racks. This task, which likely required a great deal of manual labor and technical knowledge, was key to making the system work effectively and sustainably.

This kind of thing is cool as a passion project, but it really just highlights how efficient the modern supply chain is. If you have the skills of a professional electrician, you too can spend hundreds of hours building a home battery system you could just buy for $20k, but is less reliable.

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supportengineer ◴[01 Apr 25 17:10 UTC] No.43549197[source]▶
There HAS to be a way to automate this process and make it work at scale.
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Workaccount2 ◴[01 Apr 25 17:38 UTC] No.43549521[source]▶
There is a lot of liability in sticking your name on a hodge podge of random used lithium cells.
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dheera ◴[01 Apr 25 19:38 UTC] No.43550600[source]▶
I feel like for home battery backup there needs to be some kind of lower energy density solution that has zero fire risk.

Weight is not a factor for home energy storage, there is no need for lithium cells.

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1. tinbucket ◴[01 Apr 25 19:58 UTC] No.43550743[source]▶
Weight is not a factor for home energy storage, there is no need for lithium cells.

That depends on your living situation. I live in a third-floor apartment, so weight is very definitely a factor.

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2. bmicraft ◴[01 Apr 25 20:15 UTC] No.43550880[source]▶
Weight always is a factor since heavy batteries cost more to transport, period. It's always relevant, not least for the installation too.
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3. dheera ◴[01 Apr 25 21:06 UTC] No.43551341[source]▶
The apartment building can have unified power backup in its foundation/basement.

If you reduce the energy density by a factor of 10, the weight for power backup needs will still be far lighter than the concrete.

4. dheera ◴[01 Apr 25 21:08 UTC] No.43551364[source]▶
We're talking on the order of millions of kilograms for the building materials that needed to be transported to build it. The batteries needed for backup power for its occupants won't come anywhere close to that, even at far lower energy density than lithium.