LightSail Energy

Compressed air, the new frontier in clean enrgy.

People are always looking forward towards new developments in the energy sector, more so in recent years than ever. Another company that is making news is LightSail Energy.

The product that the company is offering is a device which can store energy by compressing air in a compressor; when the energy is required for use, its pumped out of the compressor and is in turn used to drive a turbine which is attached to a generator, thereby generating electricity.

Now the main feature of this technology that is making heads turn is this: Compressing air is not an efficient process mainly because whenever the process takes place a significant per cent of the energy is wasted in the form of heat. LightSail proposes that this energy be used to heat a spray of water. This heat is stored in heat storage. When the air is to pumped out of the tanks, the stored heat is made us of. Therefore the technology that the company is developing has greatly improved the efficiency of such systems. The heat storage plays a key role in this system; LightSail proposes the heat generated during compression be made use for heating buildings, thereby eliminating the use of separate systems for heating; in the same way when the compressed air is to be expelled to drive the turbines of the generator, heat is extracted from the same buildings, thereby providing a cooling effect in the same.



The company states that this system achieves a 90% efficiency, far greater than existing systems.
The main hurdle that the company faces is the lack of capital; developing turbines, storage units, compressors etc from scratch is indeed a very expensive ordeal. Co-founder and CEO Danielle Fong, states that it requires upwards of a hundred million dollars to develop these systems.
She has also been named one of Forbes 30 Under 30, for her pioneering work in the field of clean energy.
The project has attracted funding from the likes of Peter Thiel, Bill Gates and Vinod Khosla to name a few.

Stay tuned for more developments in the field of new technologies.

Sarthak J. Shetty
Editor In Chief