Energy Storage

Alfred Rufer (1951) received the M.S. degree from  the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1976.  In 1978 he joined ABB where he was involved in the fields of high power electronics and control.  In 1993 he became an Assistant Professor at EPFL.  Since 1996, he has been a full professor and head of the industrial Electronics Laboratory EPFL.  He has authored or coauthored more than 200 publications on power electronics and applications, and he holds several patents.  Alfred Rufer's research activities focus on one hand on power converters as modular multilevel converters in asymmetric or hybrid technologies.  Another important field initiated by Alfred Rufer is dedicated to energy storage, where many applications have been studied.  Other new developments have recently been presented, for example a low aging, easy to recycle, hybrid energy storage device based on compressed air.  In 2006, Alfred Rufer was elected to the IEEE Fellow grade.

• 1. Generalities on Energy Storage 2. Energy Storage Systems 3. Comparative Ratings and Properties 4. Electrochemical Energy Storage 5. Energy Storage by Means of Supercapacitors 6. Energy Storage Systems Based on Compressed Air 7. Hydropower and Pumped Storage Facilities 8. Flywheel Systems 9. Energy Storage Based on Hydrogen 10. System Arrangements and Applications Appendix A: Power Electronics—Basic Circuits and Principles

"This excellent book contains a comprehensive description and comparison of different storage techniques and principles. This is extremely valuable to clearly understand the peculiarities and limitations of the current technologies and inspire future research efforts and technology developments. The book will provide the technical community with solid and detailed knowledge that will help develop new solutions and products to address key hot topics of our time, like electric/hybrid vehicles, ultrafast battery charging, smart grids, renewable energy, peak shaving, and reduction of energy consumption." — Silvio Colombi, General Electric, Ticino, Switzerland"I would advise electrical engineers and electrochemists to read this book. Personally, this reference book will stand on my bookshelf besides books dedicated to batteries and fuel cells."—Jean François Equey, Adenosine Sàrl, Morges, Switzerland"I really appreciated the systematic and thorough presentation of energy storage systems and components. Engineering approach and detailed descriptions with quantitative examples should make this book a unique tool to support planning and specification of energy storage project."—François Avellan, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland"With complete coverage of the basic physical principles, Energy Storage: Systems and Components presents a valuable resource of the latest technologies in energy storage, providing a perfect mix of fundamentals and applications. Rufer explores the various aspects of energy storage through careful explanations of concepts and use of numerous practical examples and figures."—Mahbod Heidari, University of Geneva, Switzerland"… contains a good balance between phenomenological descriptions and modeling of energy storage systems. Therefore, it can be considered as a good reference for those interested to understand, and mathematically quantify, the behavior of these devices."—Mario Paolone, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland"A book that brings the essential theory on storage systems and as well informs about the practical aspects of different solutions."— JF Affolter, HES-SO / HEIG-VD / IESE, Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland"The new textbook Energy Storage. Systems and Components authored by Professor emeritus Alfred Rufer from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, appeared just at the moment when both the development of intelligent networks and electromobility reached the state of wide use of energy magazines. The book is well balanced and easy for understand, written without unnecessary theoretical ballast."—Marian P. Kazmierkowski, Warsaw University of Technology, Poland