30-01-2009, 04:06 PM
A recent innovation in electrical energy storage is the use of flywheel energy storage, also called flywheel power storage. A typical system consists of a massive flywheel disc suspended by magnetic bearings inside a vacuum chamber to reduce friction, connected to a combination electric motor/electric generator. The wheels are generally made of high-tensile-strength fibers (such as carbon fibers) embedded in epoxy resins, or some other high-strength composite material. The system stores power by driving the motor to increase the speed of the spinning flywheel. The system provides power by using the momentum of the flywheel to power the generator
