Gravitricity based on solar and gravity energy storage for residential applications

This study proposes a design model for conserving and utilizing energy affordably and intermittently considering the wind rush experienced in the patronage of renewable energy sources for cheaper generation of electricity and the solar energy potential especially in continents of Africa and Asia. Essentially, the global quest for sustainable development across every sector is on the rise; hence, the need for a sustainable method of extracting energy cheaply with less wastage and pollution is on the priority list. This research, integrates and formulates different ideologies, factors and variables that have been adopted in previous research studies to create an efficient system. Some of the aforementioned researches includes pumped hydro gravity storage system, Compressed air gravity storage system, suspended weight in abandoned mine shaft, dynamic modelling of gravity energy storage coupled with a PV energy plant and deep ocean gravity energy storage. As an alternative and a modification to these systems, this research is proposing a Combined solar and gravity energy storage system. The design synthesis and computational modelling of the proposed system model were investigated using a constant height and but varying mass. Efficiencies reaching up to 62% was achieved using the chosen design experimental parameters adopted in this work. However, this efficiency can be tremendously improved upon if the design parameters are modified putting certain key factors which are highlighted in the limitation aspect of this research into consideration. Also, it was observed that for a test load of 50 × 10 3 mA running for 10 h (3600 s), the proposed system will only need to provide a torque of 3.27Nm and a height range of 66.1 × 10 4 m when a mass of 10 kg is lifted to give out power of 48 kwh. Since gravity storage requires intermittent actions and structured motions, mathematical models were used to analyse the system performance characteristics amongst other important parameters using tools like MATLAB Simscape modelling toolbox, Microsoft excel and Sysml Model software.