Thermal energy grid storage using multi-junction photovoltaics
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
- Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Georgia Inst. of Technology, Atlanta, GA (United States)
As the cost of renewable energy falls below fossil fuels, the key barrier to widespread sustainable electricity has become availability on demand. Energy storage can enable renewables to provide this availability, but there is no clear technology that can meet the low cost needed. Thus, we introduce a concept termed thermal energy grid storage, which in this embodiment uses multi-junction photovoltaics as a heat engine. We report promising initial experimental results that suggest it is feasible and could meet the low cost required to reach full penetration of renewables. The approach exploits an important tradeoff between the realization of an extremely low cost per unit energy stored, by storing heat instead of electricity directly, and paying the penalty of a lower round trip efficiency. To understand why this tradeoff is advantageous, we first introduce a general framework for evaluating storage technologies that treats round trip efficiency, as well as cost per unit energy and power, as variables.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Renewable Energy. Solar Energy Technologies Office
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308
- OSTI ID:
- 1484812
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1505078
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/JA-5900-72337; EESNBY
- Journal Information:
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 12, Issue 1; ISSN 1754-5692
- Publisher:
- Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
Ultraefficient thermophotovoltaic power conversion by band-edge spectral filtering
|
journal | July 2019 |
Design of thermophotovoltaics for tolerance of parasitic absorption
|
journal | January 2019 |
Similar Records
Design-Point Techno-Economics of Brayton Cycle PTES for Combined Heat and Power
Tubular, proton-conducting, ceramic reversible fuel cell for high-performance energy storage - Final Scientific Technical Report