Thermal power and solar energy storage technology

Why is solar thermal energy storage important?

For regions with an abundance of solar energy, solar thermal energy storage technology offers tremendous potential for ensuring energy security, minimizing carbon footprints, and reaching sustainable development goals. Global energy demand soared because of the economy’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

How does thermal energy storage work?

Thermal energy storage provides a workable solution to this challenge. In a concentrating solar power (CSP) system, the sun's rays are reflected onto a receiver, which creates heat that is used to generate electricity that can be used immediately or stored for later use.

What is a thermal energy storage system?

A thermal energy storage system mainly consists of three parts, the storage medium, heat transfer mechanism and containment system. The thermal energy storage medium stores the thermal energy either in the form of sensible heat, latent heat of fusion or vaporization, or in the form of reversible chemical reactions.

Why is thermal energy storage important in a CSP system?

In that context, thermal energy storage technology has become an essential part of CSP systems, as it can be seen in Fig. 13, and has been highlighted over this review. Despite the total installed cost for CSP plants with TES tends to be higher than those without, storage also allows higher capacity factors.

How to choose a thermal storage system?

Depending on the storage material chosen, any configuration must be able to store the required amount of energy within the duration of application and should be economical. In terms of thermal performance, it is critical that the storage system has high energy density and has adequate charging and discharging rate capability.

What is a two tank thermal energy storage system?

Active two-tank systems The principal elements for a two-tank thermal energy storage system are the material inventory, HTF, heat exchangers and the storage tanks, apart from the storage material circulation pumps. During charging, the amount of heat stored in the fluid depends on the heat supplied by the solar field.