{"id":13679,"date":"2017-08-01T07:51:23","date_gmt":"2017-07-31T21:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=13679"},"modified":"2025-03-12T10:49:34","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T01:19:34","slug":"x-project-malta-mb0147","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/x-project-malta-mb0147\/","title":{"rendered":"X Unveils Energy Storage Project – Malta"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"X<\/p>\n

U.S. tech firm X is working on technology it says could compete on price with other current energy storage methods – and it’s approaching commercial prototype stage.<\/p>\n

X was founded by Google in 2010 as Google X. These days it operates as a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company. X describes itself as a “moonshot factory”.<\/p>\n

“Our mission is to invent and launch \u201cmoonshot\u201d technologies that we hope could someday make the world a radically better place,” states the company.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A somewhat secretive firm, initial details have now been unveiled of an energy storage project X has been working on for two years – Project Malta.<\/p>\n

Malta is based on the work of Nobel prize-winning Stanford physics professor Robert Laughlin<\/a>, who designed a theoretical system able to store energy as heat in molten salt and cold in a liquid such as anti-freeze or hydrocarbons. Professor Laughlin has been engaged as a consultant for the Malta project.<\/p>\n

Energy storage using molten salt<\/a> is already being successfully used in solar farms, but in those applications the sun’s energy is reflected onto a central tower containing the salt and there is no “cold” component. Malta works differently.<\/p>\n

How Malta Works<\/h2>\n

\"How<\/p>\n