5. SEP Design and Evaluate Solutions Because wind does not blow at a
constant rate, it helps to have a way to store energy when the wind is blowing
hard and retrieve it when the wind is not blowing. One way to store energy is with
batteries. Another way is with gravity, converting excess electricity into
gravitational potential energy to store it This is commonly done by using excess
energy to pump water uphill into a reservoir to store it, and then letting the water
flow downhill (through turbines) when the energy is needed. However, this
method does not work well for a region of land that is flat.
a. Use engineering practices to design a solution for storing electrical energy
from a wind farm using gravity in a region that is flat.
b. Swap and verbally evaluate your engineering designs for gravity-based
energy storage systems.
c. Revise your design based upon the comments that you received from
others.