Nasdaq-listed Active Power, recently received another order for it's 1 megawatt class - the largest commercially available - flywheels. The company claims it is the leader in battery-free uninterrupted power solutions.

"This is our largest megawatt-class UPS order to date and offers conclusive proof that our high power UPS initiative is gaining strength," said Joe Pinkerton, CEO and Chairman of Active Power. "With its lightning storms and hurricanes, the outage profile of the Southeast U.S. can push conventional backup systems beyond their limits, but this is just the type of environment where our battery-free systems shine. We are beginning to see results from our efforts in a broad range of opportunities for this product in healthcare, data center and industrial applications. This installation also highlights the significant upfront work our OEM partner Caterpillar has been doing over the past several quarters."

Sometimes I think there could be a great synergy between a 50 kw wind turbine and a medium-sized flywheel. At the moment though, flywheels appear to be the preserve of large power applications.

Nasdaq listed Beacon Power, earlier this week announced acceptance of its flywheel demonstration by the California Energy Commission. Beacon's stock promptly rallied closing yesterday at 1.77 up from a low of 1.34 the day before. Flywheels are actually kinetic, or mechanical batteries, spinning at very high speeds (>20,000 rpm) to store energy that is instantly available when needed.

The company also makes solar inverter systems.

In alternative energy technology, it's easy to pay attention to the big ticket items like solar panels and wind turbines. But it is energy storage and power conversion devices that will make large scale integration of renewable power possible.

That's why Beacon Power looks to have a very good niche.