Solar power’s whole MO is converting sunlight into electricity—so nighttime use is usually out of the question.
Or is it?
Researchers from Curtin University in Australia are developing a thermal battery that would allow solar power systems to continue working overnight.
The “potentially game-changing” project is led by Craig Buckley, from Curtin’s School of Electrical Engineering, Computing, and Mathematical Sciences.
“Storage has long been a stumbling point for renewable energy,” the professor said in a statement. “But our prototype thermal battery is able to store and, as required, release solar energy without reliance on sunlight at all times.”
The battery, Buckley explained, uses a high-temperature metal base as the heat storage medium, and a low-temp gas storage vessel for depositing hydrogen or carbon dioxide.
“At night, and in times of cloud cover, hydrogen or carbon dioxide is released from the gas storage vessel and absorbed by the higher temperature metal to form a metal hydride/metal carbonate, which produces heat used to generate electricity,” he said.
Buckley’s battery is only one part of a larger solar power system, aimed at producing electricity 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“While a lithium battery stores electrical energy that can be used to provide electricity when the sun is not shining, this thermal battery stores heat from concentrated solar thermal, which can be used when the sun is not shining to run a turbine to produce electricity,” according to Curtin professor Chris Moran.
This research aims to integrate thermochemical energy storage via a thermal battery into a dish-Stirling system, which can provide up to 46 kW of power.
The heat engine is ideal for running remote energy-intensive industries—like mine sites—due to its capacity for on-demand power.
“The deployment of a cost-effective energy storage system using thermal batteries will revolutionize the landscape of renewable energy production world-wide by allowing renewables to truly compete with fossil fuels,” Moran said.
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