Elevator energy storage technology

What is lift energy storage technology (lest)?

Lift Energy Storage Technology (LEST) is a gravitational-based storage solution. Energy is stored by lifting wet sand containers or other high-density materials, transported remotely in and out of the lift with autonomous trailer devices. The system requires empty spaces on the top and bottom of the building.

Can elevators save energy?

The idea is to lift heavy loads up using elevators to store renewable electricity as potential energy, and then lower them to discharge that energy into the grid when needed.

Could lift energy storage technology be a viable alternative to long-term energy storage?

Conclusion This paper concludes that Lift Energy Storage Technology could be a viable alternative to long-term energy storage in high-rise buildings. LEST could be designed to store energy for long-term time scales (a week) to generate a small but constant amount of energy for a long time.

How efficient are smart elevators?

In a study published in the journal Energy, the researchers state that state-of-the-art permanent-magnet synchronous gear-motor smart elevators can operate with efficiencies near 92 percent, when the elevators are fully loaded and set to descend at an optimal speed for energy generation.

Can lifts be used as energy storage devices?

There are several ghost towns where the lifts could be used as energy storage devices. A review of ghost cities in China can be seen in Ref. . In some cases, the investors do not rent empty apartments because they want to be flexible to sell the flat any time they get a good price. So, LEST can be a good application for such empty flats.

How much energy does an elevator use?

During peak hours, elevators may constitute up to 40% of the building's electricity demand . The estimated daily energy consumption of elevators in New York City is 1945 MWh on weekdays, with a peak demand of 138.8 MW, and 1575 MWh during a weekend, with a peak demand of 106.0 MW .