Accessibility links
The Bath County Pumped Storage Station is the largest battery in the world. : Planet Money California has a ton of solar power. But as soon as night falls, it's gone. Today on the show: how to bottle the sun

Planet Money

The World's Biggest Battery (Classic)

The World's Biggest Battery (Classic)

Listen · 21:59
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/961242867/961246972" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Enlarge this image

Bath County Pumped Storage Station Dan Charles/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Dan Charles/NPR

Bath County Pumped Storage Station

Dan Charles/NPR

Note: This episode originally ran in 2018

California is generating a ton of solar power--some days, more than people can use. It could power the whole state soon, except for one problem: There's no way to hold on to all that energy at night.

Some of the country's biggest energy companies are trying to figure out how to store the power. They're buying giant lithium batteries, and imagining ways to tap the batteries in electric cars. But there's another option.

Today on the show, we visit the world's biggest battery, built out of a mountain and a lake.

Music: "Just Clap" and "Surf and Sound."

Find us: Twitter/ Facebook / Instagram

Subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, PocketCasts and NPR One.