A robust new battery from 247Solar Inc., a spinoff of MIT, operates almost like an electrochemical battery but has significant advantages at longer durations. The basic principle of the thermal battery is rather simple. Electric resistance coils heat an inexpensive thermal storage medium (silica sand) using low-cost excess electricity, e.g., from intermittent solar and wind power sources. Energy is stored as ultra-high temperature heat (up to 1000℃/1850℉) – at a fraction of the cost of batteries. Whenever needed, a specialized turbine reconverts the heat to electricity. Uniquely, the innovative turbine can do this without combustion, as atmospheric-pressure air is passed through the “Thermal Storage” and drives the “Turbine” to generate…