Our technology
Teraloop´s Pillars
All of our solutions are based on three principles to maximize positive effects for our customers and the whole energy value chain.
Scalability
In traditional flywheel the rotor is physically attached to a central hub and radial stress intensifies as the rotor diameter increases, thus limiting the rotor size.
Our system uses a hubless rotor design to minimize the radial stress, thus enabling superior scalability.
Effectiveness
Our system can deliver energy storage using a minimal amount of area, even 1 MW/m2. Price per kW and OPEX are low, leading to a low total cost of ownership.
We are currently developing Teraloop MangoTM, a mechanically flexible magnetic composite designed for high fatigue resistance, which can increase the energy storage capacity of our devices up to an unprecedented level for flywheels, up to 100 Wh/kg.
Sustainability
We are working on solutions to further minimise our environmental impact by using more sustainable options for our rotor materials, such as recyclable resins and carbon fiber obtained from recycled sources or residual bioresources.
Using our solution provides secondary positive impacts on sustainability, such as better feasibility of renewable energy sources, decreased need for critical raw materials through battery lifetime extension as well as support for sustainable livelihoods through access to affordable and clean energy.
Electromagnetic Stabilization
Technology
We focus on maximizing the "energy per unit mass" of the system, to make efficient use of material resources, while minimizing our site storage footprint.
For maximum rotational speed, we use an advanced electromagnetic stabilization system. This provides contact-free guidance of the rotor, and therefore very low friction losses, optimizing our use of materials.
Charge / Discharge
Technology
Permanent Magnet Synchronous motor/generator technology is used to maximize both power-density and round-trip efficiency, while minimizing the size of ancillary equipment.
We aim to utilize recycled permanent magnets in order to eliminate our dependency on rare-earth elements.
Rotor
Technology
Teraloop's rotor is hub-less, which allows for up to 5 times higher energy storage capacity compared to a rotor with a central hub.
To maximize both storage capacity and sustainability, the rotor is made of light-weight, strong and recyclable carbon fiber composite as well as a mechanically durable magnetic composite.
Materials
We continuously research and develop more efficient, durable and ecologic materials to provide the best solutions both for our customers and the Planet.
Carbon fiber
Materials
Reinforcing the flywheel rotor with carbon fibre maximises its energy storage capacity because of the high strength combined with low weight. For sourcing carbon fiber, we develop more sustainable and cost-efficient alternatives, such as bio-based and recycled raw materials.
In particular, we expect to decrease the cost and carbon footprint of carbon fiber production by manufacturing it from bio-based residues, such as agricultural waste.
Furthermore, we aim to contribute to mitigating the accumulation of composite waste by using carbon fiber recycled from other products, such as discarded wind turbines.
Magnetically loaded composites
Materials
We are currently developing Teraloop MangoTM, a new magnetically loaded composite materials that enables a higher energy storage capacity while maintaining a long product lifetime thanks to its better fatigue performance.
As typical magnetic materials are too brittle to withstand hundreds of thousands of charge-discharge cycles during the flywheel lifetime, we are improving their mechanical robustness and fatigue resistance while maintaining sufficient magnetic properties. This is done mainly through the optimization of the resin system as well as the interfacial interactions in magnetic composites. The resulting material is magnetically isotropic, which allows for more complex flux paths than laminated electrical steel that is conventionally used.
Teraloop MangoTM is suited also for other applications where isotropic magnetic functionality with complex flux paths is required under repetitive mechanical stress, such as other rotating electrical machines and active magnetic bearing systems.
Recyclable thermoset resins
Materials
The recyclability of the rotor at its end-of-life is largely determined by the properties of the resin where the carbon fibre and magnetic fillers are embedded. We are transitioning to using bio-based epoxy resins featuring reversible curing mechanism, which facilitates the reprocessing or recycling of the rotor materials.
Our fundamentals
Discover more on how the hub less rotor works
and why Teraloop´s flywheel is different from other energy storage solutions.
