Has anyone ever used a large weight to store energy instead of batteries?
For example, install railroad tracks up a steep hill and put a railroad car filled with heavy boulders on the track. Use daytime solar to run a motor to slowly pull the car up the STEEP hill. Then, motion of the railroad car down the hill would be geared up and run a generator. It works in my Grandfather's clock.
Since 1 HP is 550 ft-lbs/sec......
If the railroad car weighed 550,000 pounds (275 ton) and descended 1 vertical foot every 100 seconds, it would generator 10 HP or 7 KW (not counting conversion losses)
For example, install railroad tracks up a steep hill and put a railroad car filled with heavy boulders on the track. Use daytime solar to run a motor to slowly pull the car up the STEEP hill. Then, motion of the railroad car down the hill would be geared up and run a generator. It works in my Grandfather's clock.
Since 1 HP is 550 ft-lbs/sec......
If the railroad car weighed 550,000 pounds (275 ton) and descended 1 vertical foot every 100 seconds, it would generator 10 HP or 7 KW (not counting conversion losses)
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