Solar Thermal Energy Storage

Why Energy Storage is needed?

• Solar Energy is available only during Sunshine hours.

• Consumer energy demands follow their own time pattern and

solar energy does not fully match the demand.

• So storage is a must to meet consumer demand

1) Thermal Storage
(a) Sensible Heat Storage
(b) Latent Heat Storage (Phase Change Heat Storage)

2) Thermo-chemical Storage

EE 705/3 SP 1
 Sensible Heat Storage
• Energy is stored by heating a liquid or a solid which does not
change phase

• The quantity of heat stored is proportional to the temperature

rise of the material
T2

Q = Vρ ∫ c p dT
T1

Q : Energy Stored, V : Volume, ρ :Density of the storage material

Cp : Specific heat, T1 & T2 : Lower & Higher temperature

EE 705/3 SP 2
• Materials used:
• Liquids : Water, inorganic molten salts
• Solids : Rock, Gravel, Refractories

• The choice of material depends on : temperature level of utilization.

• e.g, Water is used for temperatures below 100oC whereas refractory
bricks can be used for temperatures up to 1000oC

• Liquids:
• The ability to store heat depends on: product of ρcp and water has
the highest value
• Largely Solar water heating and Solar space heating utilize this hot
water storage tanks
• An optimum tank size for a flat-plate collector system is about 100
liters of storage per square meter of collector area

EE 705/3 SP
• Liquids:
• A molten inorganic salt – a mixture of 40% NaNo2, 7% NaNO3, and
53% KNO3 (by weight) – marketed under trade name Hitec
• Used for high temperature applications of 300oC.
• Its melting temperature is 145oC and can be utilized up to a
temperature of 400oC.

• Liquid Sodium : Mainly used as a storage fluid for a solar thermal

power plant (0.5MW) in Spain

EE 705/3 SP 4
• Solids:
• Rocks or gravel packed in an insulated vessel with solar heater
• Typical size of rock piece: 1 to 5 cm.
• Very efficient system for space heating– as the heat transfer
coefficient between the air and the solid is high.
• A thumb rule : 300 to 500 kg of rock per square meter of collector
area is sufficient for space heating application

• Refractory materials : Magnesium oxide bricks, silicon oxide and

aluminium oxide – used in storage device to operate up to 600oC

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 Latent Heat Storage (Phase Change Heat Storage)

• Heat is stored is a solid material when it melts and heat is extracted

when it freezes.

• Can any liquid be used?

Heat can be stored when a liquid changes to gaseous state, but as
the volume change is large, such a system is not economical.

What are the criteria of the materials that can be used for such
purpose?
• The phase change must be accompanied by high latent heat effect
• The phase change must be reversible over a very large number of
cycles without degradation
• Means must be available to contain the material and transfer heat
into it and out of it

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• A small volume change during the phase change
• High thermal conductivity in both the phases
• The phase change must occur with limited super cooling
(Supercooling is the process of chilling a liquid below its freezing
point, without it becoming solid.)
• The cost of material and its container must be reasonable.
• The material must be available in large quantities
• The preparation of the material must be simple
• The material must be harmless, i.e, non-toxic, non-inflammable, non-
combustible, non-corrosive
• Examples of few such materials:
Organic materials like :
• Paraffin wax and Fatty acids
• Hydrated salts such as
calcium chloride hexo hydrate (CaCl2.6H2O)
sodium sulphate deca hydrate (NaSO4.10H2O) –Glauber’s Salt
Inorganic materials like:
ice (H2O), sodium nitrate (NaNO3) and Sodium hydroxide (NaOH)
EE 721/3, SP 7
• Glauber’s salt :
• Melts at 32oC, with a heat of fussion 241 kJ per kg

Energy Storage
Na2SO4.10H2O Na2SO4 + 10H2O
Energy Release

Parafin wax :
Possess high heat of fusion – 209 kJ/kg and freezes without
supercooling

Ice:
Suitable if energy is to be stored/extracted at 0oC

Sodium Nitrate:
Melting point 310oC and suitable for high temperature application
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 Thermo-chemical Storage
• With a thermo-chemical storage system, solar heat energy can start
an ENDOTHERMIC CHEMICAL REACTION and new products are
formed.
• To extract energy, a reverse EXOTHERMIC REACTION is allowed
to take place.
Heat from Solar Collector
ENDOTHERMIC REACTION
Forward Reaction
Storage
[A + B] Reactor [C + D]
vessel

Reverse Reaction EXOTHERMIC REACTION

Storage [C + D] Reactor [A + B]
vessel

Heat liberated for Utilization

EE 705/3 SP 9
 Thermo-chemical Storage

Chemical Energy Storage Reactions

Reaction Temperature Temperature Energy Stored

of Forward of Reverse per unit volume
Reaction (oC) Reaction of storage
(oC) material (kJ/m3)
CH4 + H2O ↔ 780 610 209.4 x 103
CO + 3H2

NH4OH4 ↔ NH3 + H2O 498 435 2143.7 x 103

Mg(OH)2 ↔ 199 335 3098.3 x 103

MgO +H2O

EE 705/3 SP 10