New forum for electricity storage?

With many potential changes afoot in renewable energy (RE) sourcing and tech advancements as well as regulatory issues (net metering, tax/tariff, power company/coop bylaws, etc.), it appears that electrical energy storage may be gaining ground vs grid intertie for RE implementation on the homestead.  I'm wondering if I missed it or is there  a sub-category on the Forum yet for "Storage", under the main "ENERGY" tab?  Perhaps this topic naturally gets subsumed into the 'Alternative Energy' category?

Again, although much of the tech seems to be moving rapidly, for the purposes of this post I will stick to LiFePO4 batteries as these *seem* to be the front runner for the years ahead....and please correct me if I'm wrong.  In a general way, given the international reach of Permies.com, I'm wondering how residential LiFePO4 batteries are being stored with respect to cold (sometimes VERY cold) climates.  Does one ensure the purchase of batteries that have warming circuitry if there is concern about the stored location getting too cold?  Ideally for our geographical location, the batteries would be in a room on the main floor of the house, buffered from winter's frigid grip. But it would also be quite desirable if the battery bank could be stored in an un-insulated outbuilding near the house.  (Our current average monthly KWh usage is around 1100 and likely to decrease in coming years with respect to battery bank sizing.) It will be interesting to see if any of the newer battery technologies making their way into automobiles (sodium ion, solid state, etc.) may address this in a more efficient, yet still cost-efective way.  But is it unrealistic that either a day will come or a new technology soon arise that makes the charging temperature less of a worry?

If batteries become increasingly more popular vs grid intertie, is there a circuit design that is more recommended over the panel-localized microinverters?  It would seem that having a charge controller to feed batteries would be needed followed by an inverter(s) to convert to AC for most household loads, but I don't know how size-scale of the system may affect this.

Anyway, I just mused that perhaps a storage sub-category may be justified at this point, but will see if others agree or leave as is.  Thanks for any and all comments.  

Good Morning!

Creating new forums is not impossible, but takes quite a bit of leg work.

What do we need to build the forum?

a. a name - preferably one word that describes everything
b. a volunteer staff member to do the work (it takes about 20-40 hours)
c. a thread introducing the forum that we can link to at the top of the forum
d. some words to put at the top of the forum to describe it.
e. at least 50, but preferably 100 threads that would populate the new forum

Fulfilling all of the above doesn't guarantee the new forum will happen.  But it's a good first step.  

Quote pulled from - https://permies.com/wiki/160660/forum

I believe the biggest hurdle is putting together the list of threads that could populate the new forum.

The best way to help staff is to find the 50 to 100 threads necessary.

Another tidbit of information is that the forum does not have sub-forums.

The link Timothy gave has more details.  

Using Paul's words like forum and category double the chances of the new forum being approved.

And things to look at before gathering threads.  A lot of existing forums have room for a lot of love.  I remember making my first new forums, I "paid" by giving some existing forums love first to prove we needed the new forum.

I like this sub forum idea a lot.  I have several threads that could be used as starters to get things going.  I will see what I can round up, but it won't be till the weekend at the earliest.  Thomas Rubino also has a number of threads that could be useful.

These are a few of mine that might help start out the new thread.


https://permies.com/t/274663/Building-AH-LiFePo-Battery-Box

https://permies.com/t/174618/Building-battery-generator

https://permies.com/t/135729/permaculture/Building-pair-battery-generators

https://permies.com/t/175990/Reconditioning-Lead-Acid-battery

https://permies.com/t/175611/Awkward-wiring-diagram-wiring-assistance

I will try to track down as many of my own as well....  Is there some way to snare others that fit the bill also without getting a lot of repeats?  Please note also, that "electricity storage", while being mostly about batteries, need not exclusively be so.  Others here have mentioned other forms of potential (stored) electrical energy such as metal springs that wind up under one power source and then drive electricity generation via unwinding.  Likewise, wind turbines, in addition to generating energy directly through the rotation of a generator, can pump water up into an elevated tank, providing potential electrical energy by letting the tank drain through a smal hydroelectric generator when the wind isn't blowing.  Nevertheless, I suspect the bulk of the posts will be examining battery-based storage and educating those like me who struggle with all of the calculations needed to properly and safely harness this evolving resource.  Thanks, Eric, and others here who have weighed in and provided guidance!