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Torus

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Author: Kaitlyn Short

LAST UPDATED: November 27th, 2023

Torus provides a revolutionary solar and energy management product designed to help individuals decrease their dependence on the traditional utility grid. With Torus products, clients can access renewable, clean energy and store unused energy for future use without having to deal with constantly fluctuating energy rates imposed by municipalities. Torus has created a new solar battery/storage system for residential purposes. 

The Torus Station operation is relatively straightforward. First, power is generated by the sun or other renewable energy sources like wind or hydro energy. The Torus Station collects and stores that clean energy which can then be used to power a property. Even during power outages, energy stored in the Torus Station will be accessible. The Torus Station is also a “smart” device meaning it can automatically shift energy consumption based on learned behaviors and patterns. 

The Torus Station is a kinetic battery generator. While it will store excess power generated by renewable energy generators, it will also provide supplemental power throughout the day when rates are traditionally expected to increase. Power is also dispersed at night and can be accessed in emergency back-up situations when the utility grid is down. 

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The Good

  • Monitoring Capabilities 
  • Power Generation
  • Integration

Monitoring Capabilities

The most impressive aspect of the Torus system is the monitoring capabilities it puts into the hands of the buyer. With the Torus system and accompanying mobile applications, home owners can see the following:

  • Impact — Clients can view reports on generated energy and quickly see where money is being saved, emission impact, and overall reliability on the utility grid.
  • Real-time analytics — Clients can quickly see energy activity within the home and take advantage of the extra power generated by altering energy use.
  • Predictive weather data — With the predictive weather data feature, clients can schedule when appliances that consume a lot of energy and EV-charging take effect.
  • Automation abilities — Clients can integrate with a number of home systems and make automated adjustments. 

While many solar storage and battery systems offer some sort of monitoring capabilities, few offer the data and technology provided by Torus. 

Power Generation

The solar batteries and storage systems currently on the market solely cooperate and communicate with traditional photovoltaic solar systems. While solar is an excellent and reliable source of alternative energy generation, it is not the only energy generator currently available for use.

The Torus system is able to fully connect to the solar system utilizing traditional solar panels and inverters. However, it can also work with wind power generation systems and hydropower generation systems. This is something no other solar battery on the market can claim. 

Integration

The Torus system, in conjunction with the monitoring capabilities through the mobile application, allows users to integrate a number of appliances and systems to allow for reliable tracking and make adjustments when necessary.

The Torus system can fully integrate with smart thermostats and other smart appliances, as well as EV (electric vehicle) charging products. This allows clients to essentially automatically shift energy use during those peak energy production/generation times. 

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The Bad

  • Undisclosed Performance Specifications
  • Round Trip Efficiency

Undisclosed Performance Specifications

There are a number of performance specifications clients are typically interested in when evaluating battery and storage systems. These specifications are directly tied to the overall performance of the product.

Since the Torus system has yet to be released, a number of performance specifications are simply unknown. This makes it difficult to compare the quality of the Torus system to those currently competing within the solar battery market. Undisclosed performance specifications for the Torus system include power, depth of discharge, coupling options, and even warranty details. 

Round-Trip Efficiency

Of the known performance specifications, the round-trip efficiency rating of the Torus system is a concern. In preliminary testing, the Torus system only has an 88 percent round-trip efficacy rating. While the system is not affected by ambient temperature fluctuations, this efficacy rating is still concerning. 

In comparison, other battery and storage solutions currently on the market average a round trip efficacy rating in the high 90s with some batteries boasting 98 percent. Efficiency is linked to the overall performance of a system, and the Torus system is lagging in this area. 

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The Bottom Line

Torus is a new battery solution designed to work with renewable generators and provide quality storage capabilities. The Torus Station is monitored and compatible with a high-quality monitoring system that can be accessed entirely from a mobile device. These monitoring capabilities include automatic adjustments based on data and behaviors.

Unlike other solar battery units, the Torus system is compatible with a number of renewable energy power generators. Its integration capabilities and performance lifespan are another reason residential clients are taking notice of Torus products. 

Residential property owners looking for a system that is compatible with a number of power generation sources will likely benefit from what Torus has created. 

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Rachael Stone Salt Lake City, UT

I've had my Torus station installed for several months and I've been leveraging it more and more. In fact, last month was the smallest electrical bill I've gotten yet thanks to my Torus station. My daily renewable offset is has been as high as 97% and usually averages around 95%. It has been exciting to see how my Torus station has lead to environmental and economic changes in my life. After seeing these impacts it has now lead me to making daily behavioral changes to help support these goals. As the system was being installed and as I explored the option of purchasing a Torus station I was provided with plenty of support and information. I highly recommend.

1 year ago

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Trenton Bond Provo, UT

The Torus system install was done professionally and cleanly. The system is working better than I could have imagined with daily renewable energy offsets of close to 95%. The mobile app shows me what is happening at my home real-time and is truly amazing! I am proud of the efforts we have made as a family to reduce our CO2 footprint and I literally just got my first negative energy bill (besides taxes and fees - I didn't pay a cent). Torus has changed the way our family sees our responsibility to help our planet. I have waited a long time for system this good and I couldn't recommend Torus more!

1 year ago

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Jason Jones Nampa, ID

Before installing Torus I really didn't know how much energy I was using. Now I can see my electricity usage in real-time as well as how much solar I'm producing. I love the EV charging integrations! Before when I would plug in, my car would be charged with a mix of clean power from my solar panels and dirty power from the grid. With the Torus EV integrations I can choose to charge at full throttle from the grid like before or I can select solar-only charging. When clouds roll in and my solar power drops, Torus reduces my charging speed to soak up all the sun, but not pull any power from the grid. It's amazing to see how quickly it adapts to changing weather conditions. Already it's starting to make a big difference. Last month I reduced my carbon emissions by 89% and my costs by $639 (compared to a gas car). Even my kids are getting into the app and playing this game. They're doing their laundry when solar power is plentiful so we don't have to pull power from the grid. It's a fun game each day trying to improve our "Torus-powered" score. So far this month we've averaged 93% Torus-powered!

1 year ago

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Dave West Valley City, UT

My Torus Station was installed in December 2022. The installation team was incredibly professional, did great work, and was super communicative about what to expect along the way. They've also been incredibly proactive in following up with me after to answer questions, and help me optimize my system. We love knowing that we can power our home, charge our EV, etc. all with the energy we've produced with our solar panels! The energy storage makes it possible to have our Torus Station power more than 90% of our daily electrical consumption (as opposed to just sending it all back to our utility provider)! And on an annual basis we're well over 100% offset.

1 year ago

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Ann Tom Salt Lake City, UT

Torus Station is a combination of an innovative flywheel energy storage device and software integrations. The goal is to empower me to shift my loads to renewables, aka, help me "live the renewables life" to reduce carbon impact and save money. A flywheel is a much better solution than a chemical battery because of environmental impact, lifespan years, available battery cycles, and operating temperature. It is super cool to be able to see the impact of shifting my washer / dryer, dishwasher, and hot tub clean cycles under the sun using the Torus Station app on iPhone or Android! I like to go in and see my forecasted energy production for the day, and check out my net grid numbers. The system seemed expensive, but on par with other solar and battery quotes. With a projected service life of 25 years, it will pay for itself, and I won't have to buy chemical batteries repeatedly. I am electrifying my home, and so getting renewables on site was really important to me. The flywheel is not yet installed, but expected this year. I am super excited for it. It took me a while to understand why a flywheel was so much more superior than chemical batteries, and now I can't stop talking about it to my friends, haha! As an early adopter, I sometimes see features in early stages. I find this exciting because Torus uses my feedback to improve the delivery. Torus also monitors my system and is proactive and communicative about improvements and maintenance.

1 year ago