PENDULAR – Modular Energy Storage for Photovoltaic Surplus

PENDULAR is a compact modular energy-storage concept designed to explore an alternative way of storing surplus electricity from photovoltaic generation.

The concept combines compressed air, hydraulic pressure and controlled water movement in a cyclic charge-and-discharge system.

During charging, surplus renewable electricity would be used to create a pressurised energy state within the system.

During discharge, that stored energy would be released through a controlled hydraulic and pneumatic process and converted back into electrical energy.

The system is conceived as a repeating cycle between two operating states, which gives the project its name: PENDULAR.

The initial architecture explores the integration of:

• compressed-air storage,

• hydraulic circuits,

• pressure vessels,

• pumps and valves,

• controlled water displacement,

• sensors and instrumentation,

• automated control,

• thermal management,

• and an electrical generation stage.

The current compact-system concept targets an enclosure of approximately 1.5 × 1.1 × 1.2 metres and an initial power objective around 3 kW.

These figures are design targets, not demonstrated performance.

The project is currently at a pre-validation engineering stage. There is no complete experimentally validated prototype and no independently verified round-trip efficiency or commercial performance data.

The immediate objective is to develop a reliable mathematical and physical model of the complete energy cycle and then build an instrumented prototype.

This would allow measurement of:

• electrical energy input,

• pressure behaviour,

• hydraulic behaviour,

• thermal losses,

• mechanical losses,

• recovered electrical energy,

• and complete round-trip efficiency.

I am looking for research, engineering and industrial partners with expertise in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, compressed-air systems, hydraulics, pressure vessels, turbomachinery, generators, power electronics, automation, simulation, instrumentation, safety and prototype development.

The purpose of the cooperation is to determine experimentally whether the architecture can provide a technically useful and scalable stationary energy-storage solution before progressing towards industrial development.