Curiosities
FAQs
Here’s where you’ll find all the nuts, bolts, and brass tacks of Torus. Click to learn everything you’d like to know about ownership, use, and installation.
How it Works
The Torus Station includes everything you need to generate and store clean electricity and manage your energy use. Torus works with your existing renewables, including solar, wind, and hydro, to power your home and EVs safely, efficiently, and reliably. Our system allows you to easily reduce your reliance on the grid, minimize your environmental footprint, and drastically reduce your monthly electricity bills. And with the Torus App, you can see where your power is stored and spent with the click of a button.
Simply put, the Torus Station is the best all-in-one approach to creating, storing, and managing renewable energy at your home or business. Torus’s battery options are both innovative and affordable, and our software allows you to track and control your power usage in real-time, while also promoting energy independence. Add in a host of unique, energy-saving automations, and you have the smartest, most efficient energy management system around.
Torus Station Core contains everything you need to create, store, and manage clean electricity at home, including a renewable energy source like solar panels, a Torus Smart Battery, Torus Control, and the Torus App. We also offer a Level II EV charging station as an add-on.
Our Electron Architects are committed to working with you to find the very best system configuration to meet your energy needs.
Yes! Torus can easily integrate with almost any existing renewable energy system, including those powered by solar, wind, water, and geothermal sources. Adding a Torus Station to your existing renewables boosts your energy efficiency and maximizes your impact.
Yes. Torus Stations are built to provide power in off-grid locations or no power situations.
Ordering and Installations
Get a quote for your Torus Station at torus.co/get-quote. One of our Energy Architects will then reach out to gather more details on your home and energy use before designing a custom rendering of your roof to review with you. After you receive your system design and quote, we’ll submit a city permit application on your behalf. Approval from the city usually takes between 7-10 days, but once approved, the installation process typically only takes 2-3 days.
Email us at sales@torus.co and we'll connect you with a Torus specialist to answer any questions you might have and assist you throughout the entire purchase process.
Your installation process will be coordinated by your Electron Architect. All you have to do is schedule a time for one of our trained technicians to install your Torus Station.
Permitting for solar panels and battery systems can vary based on the location of your home, and everything from statewide laws to local HOA ordinances can determine your installation processes. Thankfully, our Electron Architects are available to assist you throughout every step of the installation process and will gladly take care of the permitting for you.
The total time it takes to install a Torus Station can vary depending on your home’s location and the size of your renewable energy set-up. That said, once we have finalized designs and obtained the necessary permits, installations generally take 2-3 days to complete.
Savings and Incentives
Yes! Residential installations qualify for a 30% federal tax credit, and your Electron Architect will gladly help you determine any additional state credits and rebates you qualify for (based on location and system size).
While the impact of your Torus Station depends on a combination of factors, most Torus customers reduce their yearly CO2 emissions by 60-80% while cutting their electricity bill by 60-80%.
Demand charges are fees that some electricity customers have to pay based on the highest amount of power they require or use during a specific period of time. By giving you control over the energy your system generates and stores, Torus can greatly reduce your peak demand for electricity, thereby helping you to avoid demand charges.
Under existing time-of-use programs, electricity costs are often broken down into on-peak hours (when utilities are typically more in demand and costs are higher) and off-peak hours (when utility needs and costs are lower). A Torus Station allows you to store cheaper energy during off-peak hours and deploy that same energy to power your home during on-peak hours, when pulling from the grid is more expensive.
While every individual Torus household and user is different, homes equipped with a Torus station see an average reduction of 60-80% to their electricity bill.
Mobile App and Integrations
Your Torus Station can seamlessly integrate with your EV charger, smart thermostat, and smart appliances.
Because the Torus Station orchestrates your home’s energy consumption, it is able to feed commands from the Torus App to your EV charger. This allows you to set parameters around when and how your electric vehicle is charged. Say for instance, you’re serious about cutting down on your emissions. Through the Torus App, you can tell your EV charger to only use clean electricity generated by your renewable energy sources instead of pulling from the grid.
In order to integrate the Torus Station with your HVAC system, you’ll first need to install a smart thermostat. Once installed, your thermostat will work together with Torus to help you heat and cool your home with optimum efficiency—even while you’re out.
Yes. The Torus App allows you to monitor and control your home’s energy use from anywhere in the world, so long as you have an internet connection. In the event of an internet outage, the system will continue to operate normally, but visibility in the mobile app will be limited until your internet connection is restored.
Because our team is constantly performing to-the-minute monitoring of system usage and performance, we’ll likely know about any issues before you do. In this case, we’ll reach out to schedule a repair. If you have additional concerns, support can be reached at support@torus.co.
Torus Flywheel
The Torus Flywheel is a battery that stores energy using mass and motion and converts it to electricity when needed. Flywheels capture kinetic energy by using an electric motor to spin a rotor–a heavy disc, usually made of metal. When energy is needed, the electric motor decelerates the flywheel little by little, converting kinetic energy into usable electricity. The Torus Flywheel takes power generated by your renewable energy sources, stores it as kinetic energy, and then converts it back into usable electricity when the time comes. Made from recyclable materials, our Flywheel is fast, powerful, and more durable than traditional chemical batteries.
Torus Station complies with all local building codes, electrical codes, and other applicable regulations. To ensure safe operation, the Torus Flywheel is housed in a well-engineered enclosure designed to safely contain the rotor in case of malfunction. The Torus Station also includes a variety of safety features, sensors, and monitoring systems that can quickly detect issues and, if need be, engage automatic shutdown mechanisms, stopping potential problems before they occur.
The Torus Flywheel is a kinetic battery, while the Powerwall is a chemical battery. Both are energy storage systems, but there are significant differences in terms of their operating principles, efficiency, and applications. Below is a crash course on the difference between these two systems:
Operating principles:
- Torus Flywheel: Flywheel batteries store power in the form of kinetic energy by spinning a rotor at high speeds. The rotor is made of steel and is mounted on bearings inside a vacuum chamber to minimize air resistance. When power is required, the kinetic energy of the spinning rotor is converted back into electrical energy through an electric motor generator.
- Chemical battery (Powerwall): A chemical battery, like the Powerwall, stores energy through electrochemical reactions within individual cells. Each cell contains an anode, a cathode, and an electrolyte, which facilitate the flow of ions between the electrodes during charge and discharge cycles.
Efficiency:
- Torus Flywheel: Flywheel batteries have very high efficiency levels, often around 90-95%. They can quickly charge and discharge with minimal energy loss.
- Chemical battery (Powerwall): Chemical batteries have lower efficiency levels, usually around 80-90%. Their efficiency levels also degrade over time due to chemical changes and increased internal resistance in the cells.
Lifespan and maintenance:
- Torus Flywheel: The Torus Flywheel has an expected lifespan of 25 years and requires minimal maintenance. Some bearings and vacuum seals may need occasional replacement or servicing.
- Chemical battery (Powerwall): Chemical batteries usually have a limited lifespan—typically around 10 years—with their capacity degrading over time due to chemical changes within the cells. The number of charge and discharge cycles will impact the overall life of the battery.
Environmental impact:
- Torus Flywheel: Flywheels have a very low environmental impact, as they don't contain hazardous materials and can be more easily recycled.
Chemical battery (Powerwall): Chemical batteries can have a higher environmental impact due to their use of toxic materials like heavy metals and the complexities involved in recycling the components.