High-temperature superconductor for wind turbine generators
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The actual niche HTS found — lightweight generators for very large wind turbines, where 20-inch steel shafts need lighter conductors than copper.
That's not to say that the high-temperature superconductors haven't found a niche. Anybody know what their niche is? The generators for wind turbines. Turns out you really need lightweight up there, and those generator shafts are steel shafts that can be twenty inches in diameter in one of these really big wind turbines. You want something that has better electrical conductivity than just straight copper. Copper is pretty heavy, silver is pretty heavy too. These superconductors are actually silver wires, but if you cool them to liquid nitrogen temperatures you'll get some superconductivity in this silver matrix.