Mechanical Energy aims at addressing energy availability

One of the challenges with many forms of renewable energy - especially wind and solar - is "dispatchability" - can you produce the energy when you need it. Steps like a national smart grid, which would allow dynamic routing, and energy efficiency, which can reduce peak and overall demand, can reduce the significance of this issue. A couple companies in Redwood City, Inventor Labs and Mechanical Energy, are working to address this problem.

The invention, called a mechanical electrical storage appliance, uses the energy generated by uncoiling a spring or dropping weights attached to each unit.

The appliance can store energy from wind and solar sources, which only generate intermittently throughout the day, for later use. Wind energy generated at midnight could be stored and used in the daytime with similar use for solar energy. Inventor Labs founder Glenn Reid said the storage appliance makes the economics of solar power “a little easier.”

Inventor Labs formed Mechanical Electric Inc. in April to focus on marketing the appliance. Reid said Mechanical Electric’s plan is to co-locate units on wind farms first. There are no plans to target the residential market, though the option remains open, he said.

It's an intriguing approach - in some ways obvious.

It is worth noting that some renewables such as geothermal and tidal, do not face this challenge. And other alternatives such as molten salt for concentrated solar are also being implemented