Battery packs cost a lot of money, so what if we had another way of actually storing power?

Well, a new Californian startup company, Antora Energy, think they may have the answer and it’s not unlike a theory we probably knew as cavemen and cavewomen.

The firm has a theory that energy could be stored inside battery-like boxes in really hot rocks. It’s an idea reminiscent to having a fire next to rocks, just as we would have done as early humans.

Founder Andrew Ponec told CNN: “People sometimes feel like they’re insulting us by saying, ‘Hey, that sounds really simple. And we say, ‘No, that’s exactly the point.'”

The company has been obtaining the sun’s rays with photovoltaic solar panels and then heating up rocks to almost 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The firm uses solid carbon blocks to absorb solar energy.

So what’s the difference between a technology like this and traditional lithium-ion battery storare?

Ponec added: “The key thing that those furnaces didn’t have is a way to get the heat back out. We’ve added some cavities, some gaps in the carbon that allow light from deep within the system to shine out and some insulated doors that can open and close that allow that light to shine out when you want it.”

Here’s a video explaining the process;

If the company’s plan is a success, this firm could become a key part of a multi-trillion dollar energy storage sector utilizing sun or wind.

The white-hot rocks could help humans finally move away from fossil fuels as an exciting new green energy source.