Last post we discussed how lakes are used as storage for water.  Lakes are not necessarily the first thing that people would think of when discussing storage, and this week’s topic falls into that same category – batteries.

Dating back to 1800, batteries have served as an excellent way for people to store power in a dense, portable form.  In a world with more and more electronics, batteries have become essential to everyday life.  They are in our phones, laptops, cars, and many other items that are used daily.  The batteries used in electronics are rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries, a technology that has been around since the 1970’s, although there have been many improvements.

One of the latest developments in the production of batteries comes from Tesla and its Gigafactory.  The current plans for the Gigafactory predict that sufficient batteries for the production of 500,000 cars per year must be produced.  The production of 500,000 cars would use up the entire world’s supply of lithium-ion batteries, hence the necessity for the factory.  It is projected that in 2018, Tesla will be producing more batteries than the entire world did in 2013.

Storing power is essential to Tesla. Instead of using up a resource such as gas, they have committed themselves to creating cars that run off renewable energy.  The only way that renewable energy can work is if there is some way to store it for later use, and this is where batteries are essential.

Tesla is not the only company adding storage capacity – here at Dollar Self Storage we’re adding it, as well.  So if you happen to be touring Tesla’s under-construction Gigafactory in northern Nevada, add a Las Vegas side-trip to your itinerary and check out our under-construction (and soon to be open) storage location in North Las Vegas.