We are Renovate Your World are unabashed supporters of the Smart Grid. (Which, at times, feels the same as saying we are fans of terra forming and a three-party system.) Fewer and shorter blackouts. Green energy. Smart meters and smart appliances that work for you to save on energy bills. What’s not to like?

Two of the bigger challenges facing those charged with making the Smart Grid dream a reality include the distributing of harnessed energy over distances and the storage of renewable energy. While theirs may not be The Answer, the micro-grid designed by McPhy Energy for the University of Nottingham intrigued me. Described as a “mid-term storage of renewable energy,” the micro-grid solution stores solar, wind and ground-source heat pump energy as solid hydrogen to cover the homes during peak periods, after sundown and during low- or no-wind stretches of time.

The solution will be used in Nottingham University’s Creative Energy Homes project, considered by those involved to be the “first in the world to investigate the use of solid hydrogen as a mid-term solution for energy autonomy on a residential micro-grid scale.”

I love the concept. I wonder if this kind of solution is feasible (affordable) on a wider scale. I am curious to know how many homes such a system can support.

Read more about MyCphy’s solid hydrogen storage solution here.

McPhy Energy