The World's Largest Battery

Very early this year, the world's largest battery was finished. Capable of storing 36 megawatt-hours of electricity, it is a battery of previously unseen size and power. The home of this battery isn't very surprising, Hebei Province, China.

The world's largest battery is about the dimensions of a football field

The battery has enough juice to power something like 12,000 homes for 1 hour in the case of a total blackout. That's some serious power. Ideally, however, this battery will soak up power during times of little power usage and supplement the power supply when demand is high. It has been tied into the smart grid so that power is never reduced to any home.

Basic idea of a smart grid

This facility cost a hefty $500 million to finally finish. It was only possible as a joint project between the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) and and BYD, an electric car company that was in it to find a way of making electric cars more practical. The battery is fed 140 megawatts from both a wind farm and a solar panel array. This battery is a big leap in green technology. We now have a place to store all the energy gained from green energy solutions.

Aside from being really cool, this battery is a very encouraging site for the future of technology everywhere. Who knows what'll be next?