Oceanside iFly battery system

[billvon 2,715]

We flew last night in the Oceanside iFly.  A lot of California tunnels have been shutting down at 4-5pm during the latest heat wave because power prices get super high after 4pm, and they are asking people to reduce power draw between 4 and 9pm - and of course tunnels draw a lot of power.

Last night at 6 and 7pm we spent 30 minutes in the Oceanside tunnel doing 4-way.  They were able to run because they have a battery system that lets them run off-grid when power prices are high.  I talked to one of the guys there; he said the battery system was sufficient to power the tunnel 100% at belly-flight speeds and provide about 70% of the power at VRW speeds.  They then charge late at night/early morning when the power prices are much cheaper.  There are also ways that utilities can "rent" the batteries for auxiliary grid services which can provide some additional income for the tunnel; I don't know if they are doing that, but a lot of large battery installations are.

I'd expect to see this more often as battery prices come down and tunnels look for ways to save money.

[Westerly 61]

who cares. ifly is an absolute garbage company for more reason than one.

[DougH 270]

10 hours ago, Westerly said:

who cares. ifly is an absolute garbage company for more reason than one.

More sour grapes? Shocker!

I found Bill's post infinitely more interesting than your response but that is par for the course.

Is there anything even remotely involved with skydiving that you haven't become upset and bitter about? Have you stopped to consider why you may be feeling this way, and how you may be contributing to all of your poor experiences?

[Westerly 61]

4 hours ago, DougH said:

More sour grapes? Shocker!

I found Bill's post infinitely more interesting than your response but that is par for the course.

Is there anything even remotely involved with skydiving that you haven't become upset and bitter about? Have you stopped to consider why you may be feeling this way, and how you may be contributing to all of your poor experiences?

There are very few things in skydiving that I am bitter about. Here is the short list:

 

1. Companies that put money above safety or their own employees.

2. TIs that treat fun jumpers like shit and completely forget that they too were once real skydivers before they became losers.

3. Anyone who is unsafe and complacent to a degree that they are risking my safety.

That's about it. In other words, dont be a douchebag and I wont have an issue.

Edited September 9, 2020 by Westerly

[kleggo 143]

15 hours ago, billvon said:

Last night at 6 and 7pm we spent 30 minutes in the Oceanside tunnel doing 4-way. 

Sounds like fun.

I rode by there last night ~ 6:30 and wondered if they were open / running

[CoolBeans 11]

Do you know if iFly at Union City (N Cal) is opening anytime soon?

[dgrabowski 4]

17 hours ago, billvon said:

We flew last night in the Oceanside iFly.  A lot of California tunnels have been shutting down at 4-5pm during the latest heat wave because power prices get super high after 4pm, and they are asking people to reduce power draw between 4 and 9pm - and of course tunnels draw a lot of power.

Last night at 6 and 7pm we spent 30 minutes in the Oceanside tunnel doing 4-way.  They were able to run because they have a battery system that lets them run off-grid when power prices are high.  I talked to one of the guys there; he said the battery system was sufficient to power the tunnel 100% at belly-flight speeds and provide about 70% of the power at VRW speeds.  They then charge late at night/early morning when the power prices are much cheaper.  There are also ways that utilities can "rent" the batteries for auxiliary grid services which can provide some additional income for the tunnel; I don't know if they are doing that, but a lot of large battery installations are.

I'd expect to see this more often as battery prices come down and tunnels look for ways to save money.

If someone had asked me (I have an engineering degree, somewhere) if this would even be possible, I'd be inclined to say "nope". Tunnel motors draw a ton of power, and the cost of the batteries to supply that power, plus the cost of the inverters, would be staggering.

I'm super impressed - actually, almost bewildered - to read that this is happening.

[gowlerk 2,093]

17 hours ago, Westerly said:

who cares. ifly is an absolute garbage company for more reason than one.

It's not about Ifly, it's about the battery system. Perhaps you could spare a little of the poison in your soul for batteries!

[billvon 2,715]

1 hour ago, dgrabowski said:

If someone had asked me (I have an engineering degree, somewhere) if this would even be possible, I'd be inclined to say "nope".

I was surprised too.  I asked if I could see the system but apparently no one has the key to that room.

He _thinks_ it's the Tesla Powerpack system.  Those are 130 kilowatt, 230 kilowatt-hour systems, so four of them would run a 500kW tunnel for about two hours of constant running.

[Westerly 61]

"If someone had asked me (I have an engineering degree, somewhere) if this would even be possible, I'd be inclined to say "nope". "

 

Then you should probably ask for your money back. I have no degree at all and I knew it was not only possible but in common use and in capacities WAY, WAY larger than 500kW. 500kW is nothing really for an industrial power storage system. There are power storage solutions that can power an entire town for a limited period of time and they are in common use in many cities. Building an ancient lead-acid or LiPo battery system is not even close to the only way to store energy. Many industrial solutions do something like pump water up a hill and then when they need the power back the water flows back down the hill and spins a generator. Many cities do things like this to offset the usage of residential solar. Many sunny cities have too much solar to the point that the utilities companies cant really make good use of it so they build city-wide energy storage systems to capture the excess power produced by the solar during the day where electrical demands are lower and they use it in the evening when electrical demands are higher.

Edited September 12, 2020 by Westerly

[flying_phish 8]

What's it like to know everything Westerly? 'Cause I gotta tell ya, it looks exhausting to be you

[billvon 2,715]

On 9/12/2020 at 2:00 PM, Westerly said:

Then you should probably ask for your money back. I have no degree at all and I knew it was not only possible but in common use and in capacities WAY, WAY larger than 500kW. 500kW is nothing really for an industrial power storage system. There are power storage solutions that can power an entire town for a limited period of time and they are in common use in many cities. Building an ancient lead-acid or LiPo battery system is not even close to the only way to store energy. Many industrial solutions do something like pump water up a hill and then when they need the power back the water flows back down the hill and spins a generator. Many cities do things like this to offset the usage of residential solar. Many sunny cities have too much solar to the point that the utilities companies cant really make good use of it so they build city-wide energy storage systems to capture the excess power produced by the solar during the day where electrical demands are lower and they use it in the evening when electrical demands are higher.

Nope.  Still pretty rare.  Hopefully that will change.

[Westerly 61]

16 hours ago, billvon said:

Nope.  Still pretty rare.  Hopefully that will change.

not that rare. most cities use them.

Edited September 28, 2020 by Westerly

[arch63 4]

In Ontario, Canada a lot of industrial electricity consumers initiated systems with batteries around our "Time of use" restrictions. They were taking part in both money saving ideas = using batteries during costly peak times and charging when cheaper rates apply and also using the carbon tax benefits in place at the time. The current Conservatives scrapped the carbon tax program and significantly altered the use/cost differential. Not sure if the battery program is still of any benefit here now. Maybe after the lawsuits are settled we will see the program restarted. Anything that costs less and adds Green value is okay by me.

 

[lyosha 48]

On 9/9/2020 at 2:49 PM, Westerly said:

2. TIs that treat fun jumpers like shit and completely forget that they too were once real skydivers before they became losers.

omg such a winner here!