Thermal energy grid storage using multi-junction photovoltaics

Amy, Caleb; Seyf, Hamid Reza; Steiner, Myles A.; Friedman, Daniel J.; Henry, Asegun

doi:10.1039/C8EE02341G

Title: Thermal energy grid storage using multi-junction photovoltaics

Abstract

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.

Authors:

^[1];

^[2];

^[3];

^[4]

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, USA
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering

Publication Date:: 2019-01-16

Research Org.:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Solar Energy Technologies Office

OSTI Identifier:: 1484812

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 1505078

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5900-72337
Journal ID: ISSN 1754-5692; EESNBY

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

Resource Type:: Published Article

Journal Name:: Energy & Environmental Science

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Name: Energy & Environmental Science Journal Volume: 12 Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1754-5692

Publisher:: Royal Society of Chemistry

Country of Publication:: United Kingdom

Language:: English

Subject:: 14 SOLAR ENERGY; 25 ENERGY STORAGE; energy storage; thermophotovoltaics; high temperature thermal storage

Citation Formats


                    Amy, Caleb, Seyf, Hamid Reza, Steiner, Myles A., Friedman, Daniel J., and Henry, Asegun. Thermal energy grid storage using multi-junction photovoltaics.  United Kingdom: N. p., 2019. 
Web.  doi:10.1039/C8EE02341G.

Copy to clipboard


                    Amy, Caleb, Seyf, Hamid Reza, Steiner, Myles A., Friedman, Daniel J., & Henry, Asegun. Thermal energy grid storage using multi-junction photovoltaics.  United Kingdom.  https://doi.org/10.1039/C8EE02341G

Copy to clipboard


                    Amy, Caleb, Seyf, Hamid Reza, Steiner, Myles A., Friedman, Daniel J., and Henry, Asegun. Wed .  
"Thermal energy grid storage using multi-junction photovoltaics".  United Kingdom.  https://doi.org/10.1039/C8EE02341G.

Copy to clipboard


                    
@article{osti_1484812,

  title        = {Thermal energy grid storage using multi-junction photovoltaics},

  author       = {Amy, Caleb and Seyf, Hamid Reza and Steiner, Myles A. and Friedman, Daniel J. and Henry, Asegun},

  abstractNote = {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.},

  doi          = {10.1039/C8EE02341G},

  journal      = {Energy & Environmental Science},

  number       = 1,

  volume       = 12,

  place        = {United Kingdom},

  year         = {2019},

  month        = {1}

}

Copy to clipboard

Journal Article:

Free Publicly Available Full Text

Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1039/C8EE02341G

Other availability

Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal

Citation Metrics:

Cited by: 58 works

Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

Figure 1: Three parameter analysis of energy storage value: CPE, CPP, and RTE. (A) Value of arbitrage as a function of RTE. (B) Value comparison of leading energy storage technologies (* indicates not shown in C, because off the chart). (C) CPE and CPP (white shapes) of three competitive energymore »

All figures and tables (5 total)

Save / Share:

Export Metadata

Save to My Library

Works referenced in this record:

Molten salt power towers operating at 600–650 °C: Salt selection and cost benefits
journal, April 2018

Turchi, Craig S.; Vidal, Judith; Bauer, Matthew
Solar Energy, Vol. 164
DOI: 10.1016/j.solener.2018.01.063

Pumping liquid metal at high temperatures up to 1,673 kelvin
journal, October 2017

Amy, C.; Budenstein, D.; Bagepalli, M.
Nature, Vol. 550, Issue 7675
DOI: 10.1038/nature24054

Ocean Renewable Energy Storage (ORES) System: Analysis of an Undersea Energy Storage Concept
journal, April 2013

Slocum, A. H.; Fennell, G. E.; Dundar, G.
Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 101, Issue 4
DOI: 10.1109/JPROC.2013.2242411

Generalized Optoelectronic Model of Series-Connected Multijunction Solar Cells
journal, November 2015

Geisz, John F.; Steiner, Myles A.; Garcia, Ivan
IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics, Vol. 5, Issue 6
DOI: 10.1109/JPHOTOV.2015.2478072

Estimating the value of electricity storage in PJM: Arbitrage and some welfare effects
journal, March 2009

Sioshansi, Ramteen; Denholm, Paul; Jenkin, Thomas
Energy Economics, Vol. 31, Issue 2
DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2008.10.005

Pumped thermal grid storage with heat exchange
journal, July 2017

Laughlin, Robert B.
Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, Vol. 9, Issue 4
DOI: 10.1063/1.4994054

The future cost of electrical energy storage based on experience rates
journal, July 2017

Schmidt, O.; Hawkes, A.; Gambhir, A.
Nature Energy, Vol. 2, Issue 8
DOI: 10.1038/nenergy.2017.110

Air-Breathing Aqueous Sulfur Flow Battery for Ultralow-Cost Long-Duration Electrical Storage
journal, October 2017

Li, Zheng; Pan, Menghsuan Sam; Su, Liang
Joule, Vol. 1, Issue 2
DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2017.08.007

Material design and engineering of next-generation flow-battery technologies
journal, November 2016

Park, Minjoon; Ryu, Jaechan; Wang, Wei
Nature Reviews Materials, Vol. 2, Issue 1
DOI: 10.1038/natrevmats.2016.80

Equilibrium Phase Relationship between SiC and a Liquid Phase in the Fe-Si-C System at 1523–1723 K
journal, January 2009

Kawanishi, Sakiko; Yoshikawa, Takeshi; Tanaka, Toshihiro
MATERIALS TRANSACTIONS, Vol. 50, Issue 4
DOI: 10.2320/matertrans.MRA2008404

40% efficient metamorphic GaInP∕GaInAs∕Ge multijunction solar cells
journal, April 2007

King, R. R.; Law, D. C.; Edmondson, K. M.
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 90, Issue 18
DOI: 10.1063/1.2734507

Metamorphic epitaxy for multijunction solar cells
journal, March 2016

France, Ryan M.; Dimroth, Frank; Grassman, Tyler J.
MRS Bulletin, Vol. 41, Issue 3
DOI: 10.1557/mrs.2016.25

Cost-minimized combinations of wind power, solar power and electrochemical storage, powering the grid up to 99.9% of the time
journal, March 2013

Budischak, Cory; Sewell, DeAnna; Thomson, Heather
Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 225
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2012.09.054

Lowering the Bar on Battery Cost
journal, October 2017

Chiang, Yet-Ming; Su, Liang; Pan, Mengshuan Sam
Joule, Vol. 1, Issue 2
DOI: 10.1016/j.joule.2017.09.015

Thermophotovoltaics: a potential pathway to high efficiency concentrated solar power
journal, January 2016

Seyf, Hamid Reza; Henry, Asegun
Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 9, Issue 8
DOI: 10.1039/C6EE01372D

The Value of Concentrating Solar Power and Thermal Energy Storage
journal, October 2010

Sioshansi, Ramteen; Denholm, Paul
IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, Vol. 1, Issue 3
DOI: 10.1109/TSTE.2010.2052078

Economic viability of energy storage systems based on price arbitrage potential in real-time U.S. electricity markets
journal, February 2014

Bradbury, Kyle; Pratson, Lincoln; Patiño-Echeverri, Dalia
Applied Energy, Vol. 114
DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.10.010

Thermal energy storage systems for concentrated solar power plants
journal, November 2017

Pelay, Ugo; Luo, Lingai; Fan, Yilin
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 79
DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2017.03.139

Combined selective emitter and filter for high performance incandescent lighting
journal, August 2017

Leroy, Arny; Bhatia, Bikram; Wilke, Kyle
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 111, Issue 9
DOI: 10.1063/1.4989522

Some Mechanical Properties of Graphite at Elevated Temperatures
journal, May 1951

Malmstrom, C.; Keen, R.; Green, L.
Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 22, Issue 5
DOI: 10.1063/1.1700013

Estimating the cost of high temperature liquid metal based concentrated solar power
journal, March 2018

Wilk, Gregory; DeAngelis, Alfred; Henry, Asegun
Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, Vol. 10, Issue 2
DOI: 10.1063/1.5014054

Highly efficient GaAs solar cells by limiting light emission angle
journal, January 2013

Kosten, Emily D.; Atwater, Jackson H.; Parsons, James
Light: Science & Applications, Vol. 2, Issue 1, p. e45-e45
DOI: 10.1038/lsa.2013.1

Works referencing / citing this record:

Ultraefficient thermophotovoltaic power conversion by band-edge spectral filtering
journal, July 2019

Omair, Zunaid; Scranton, Gregg; Pazos-Outón, Luis M.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 116, Issue 31
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1903001116

Design of thermophotovoltaics for tolerance of parasitic absorption
journal, January 2019

Raman, Vinod K.; Burger, Tobias; Lenert, Andrej
Optics Express, Vol. 27, Issue 22
DOI: 10.1364/oe.27.031757

Figures / Tables found in this record:

Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.

Similar Records in DOE PAGES and OSTI.GOV collections:

Earth Battery: Storing Energy with Compressed Air and Heated Brine in Porous Rock (Final Technical Report)

Technical Report Buscheck, Thomas A. ; Upadhye, Ravi

Cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are best achieved when all lowcarbon energy resources are fully utilized. This includes base-load power: nuclear energy (NE) and fossil energy (FE), integrated with CO₂ capture, use, and storage (CCUS), and variable renewable energy (VRE) (wind and solar); but, current CCUS options don’t justify CO₂-capture costs and existing energy-storage approaches lack the capacity and storage duration needed to fully utilize all forms of low-carbon energy without curtailment. The Earth Battery is designed to meet these challenges by synergistically integrating conventional- and renewable-energy resources, allowing each to contribute more efficiently to the grid thanmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.2172/1544943

Full Text Available
The SURE House (Solar Decathlon 2015)

Technical Report Nastasi, John ; May, Edwin

Coastal towns and cities across the Northeastern US, with their high population density, aged utility infrastructure, and unique geography, are increasingly vulnerable to climate change related storm events. In October 2012 superstorm Sandy highlighted the fragility of our current coastal building types and made clear the need for a new model of design and construction which works to understand and mitigate these weaknesses. Dramatic changes in public policy, championed by both The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) are driving the rebuilding of these shore communities, often resulting in costly renovations, un-sustainable neighborhood configurationsmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.2172/1378086

Full Text Available
Liquid Salt Combined-Cycle Pilot Plant Design

Technical Report Hume, Scott Alexander

The work described in this report is responsive to the Office of Fossil Energy program ‘Energy Storage for Fossil Power Generation.’ This Phase I report has been prepared by Pintail Power LLC, with support from Nexant ECA, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Southern Company Services as a deliverable for the U.S. Department of Energy for NETL Award DE-FE-00320016. The Liquid Salt Combined Cycle™ (LSCC™) technology provides large-scale energy storage integrated with Fossil Electric Generating Units (FEGUs) to meet critical needs in the energy transition by providing: • the lowest cost large-scale storage for time-shifting of renewable energy, • superior fuel efficiency to reduce GHGs from dispatchable resources, • flexible capacity and ramping to balance variability of wind and solar resources, • essential grid stability services to assure reliability of a low-carbon grid. The LSCC approach: • employs equipment that has already been proven in utility service, • uses safe, non-toxic, non-degrading, perpetual-life storage medium, • leverages and repurposes existing FEGU assets, • expands the value stack of energy storage to reduce market, financing, and commodity risks. Pintail Power has developed the LSCC technology to meet the need for reliable, efficient, and cost-effective integration of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) into a low-carbon electric grid by coupling proven thermal energy storage with proven gas turbines, steam turbines, and heat transfer equipment. This novel approach is intended to address the key issues facing the grid and operators of renewable and fossil generating units including: • Overgeneration and curtailment of renewables, • Need for fast ramping dispatchable resources, • Improved efficiency and flexibility of fossil units, • Additional peaking capacity to support electrification of transportation and heating, • Provision of reliability services to support high penetration of VRE, especially synchronous inertia and fast frequency response. A Technology Readiness assessment by EPRI confirmed that LSCC technology consists of commercially proven hardware used in industrial and utility applications. Although the novel LSCC approach has not yet been demonstrated as a complete system, interfaces between major components have been conservatively specified. A Phase III pilot is planned to demonstrate equipment integration and operation. The patented innovation is removal of the evaporator section from the exhaust heat recovery system, with the evaporation performed by stored energy in a separate steam generator. This arrangement couples renewable and fossil power generation via long-duration energy storage to deliver cost, performance, and operational synergies, including superior charging and discharging flexibility, reduced fuel consumption and lower CO₂ emissions compared to conventional Combined Cycle Power Plants, and low-cost, large-scale energy storage. The LSCC technology is composed of proven equipment integrated with gas turbine exhaust heat in a novel system. During charging, electric heaters raise the salt temperature as it flows from the Cold Salt Tank to the Hot Salt Tank. During discharging, hot salt produces steam from feedwater that is heated with gas turbine exhaust, which also superheats steam to drive a steam turbine. LSCC technology can be added to any combustion-turbine to integrate renewable energy, provide needed grid services, and increase the value of fossil electric generating units based on the technology’s following attributes: • Long-duration storage enables time-shifting of VRE to avoid curtailment and impairment of renewable assets. • Long storage duration combined with fast-charging capability increases arbitrage opportunities by storing more energy when the price is low and discharging more hours when the price is high. • Long storage duration allows resource adequacy to be supplied across multiple days to increase reliability and reduce risk. • The stored energy reduces fuel heat rate and GHG emissions, and increases merit, so the LSCC dispatches earlier and longer to increase the plant’s capacity factor and asset value. • The stored energy enables pre-heating and startup of the steam cycle, without operating the gas turbine, to enable fast startup and ramping when dispatched for discharge. • The steam turbine can operate without the gas turbine so it can provide valuable synchronous inertia during charging without consuming fuel. • Fast frequency response and regulation services can be provided during charging using solid-state heater and pump controls to vary the charge power input in response to grid signals. • The LSCC system can be configured for resilience including black start, islanded/micro-grid operation, and even self-recharging of storage using either gas turbine power or gas turbine exhaust heat. The commercialization plan is to add LSCC technology to existing simple cycle gas turbine power plants with the 50MW GE LM6000 aero-derivative gas turbine as the reference design basis. A Techno-economic assessment of the reference design evaluated the benefits (Levelized Avoided Cost of Energy) and costs (Levelized Cost of Energy). The plant definition included all major systems and budgetary vendor quotes. Pintail Power and NexantECA developed the overall cost estimate for the LSCC plant up to the total plant cost level, following the DOE-NETL cost estimate guidelines at AACE Class 3 (-20%/+30%). This includes the equipment cost, bulk material, direct and indirect labor costs to arrive at the bare erected cost. Engineering costs are factored from the BEC and added to it to arrive at the EPC cost. Process and project contingencies were then factored from the EPC cost and rolled-up to yield the total plant cost ofmore »« less
https://doi.org/10.2172/1854364

Full Text Available
Electrolysis' Potential Value for Supporting the Electrical Grid

Conference Ruth, Mark F ; Jadun, Paige ; Levie, Daniel R ; ...

The H2@Scale concept includes a value proposition for electrolysis that benefits both hydrogen markets and the electricity system. Electrolysis has the potential to be an alternative low-cost hydrogen source by using low-price electricity that may be available for only a limited number of hours annually. It also has the potential to provide value to the grid through use of that low-cost electricity. By doing so, electrolysis can create a price floor which could support additional investment in low-cost, dispatch-constrained electricity (LDE) generation such as photovoltaic solar, wind, and nuclear. The rapid-response characteristics of low-temperature electrolysis enables it to also providemore »« less
Full Text Available
Flexible Geothermal Power Generation utilizing Geologic Thermal Energy Storage: Final Seedling Project Report

Technical Report Wendt, Daniel S ; Huang, Hai ; Zhu, Guangdong ; ...

This report concludes that there is a cost-effective strategy for seasonal storage of heat that will provide firm, but dispatchable, electrical generating capacity in times when other renewable energy is not available to meet demand. Deployment of the technology appears to require no new technology, but instead combines solar, geothermal, and conventional oil and gas drilling technologies in a novel way. The study basis is the use of sedimentary geologic formations as a medium for thermal energy storage (TES), specifically for heat collected in concentrating solar collectors. The study identifies methodologies that could be used to transport this heat intomore »« less
https://doi.org/10.2172/1524048

Full Text Available

Similar Records

Title: Thermal energy grid storage using multi-junction photovoltaics

Abstract

Citation Formats

Figures / Tables:

Molten salt power towers operating at 600–650 °C: Salt selection and cost benefits journal, April 2018

Pumping liquid metal at high temperatures up to 1,673 kelvin journal, October 2017

Ocean Renewable Energy Storage (ORES) System: Analysis of an Undersea Energy Storage Concept journal, April 2013

Generalized Optoelectronic Model of Series-Connected Multijunction Solar Cells journal, November 2015

Estimating the value of electricity storage in PJM: Arbitrage and some welfare effects journal, March 2009

Pumped thermal grid storage with heat exchange journal, July 2017

The future cost of electrical energy storage based on experience rates journal, July 2017

Air-Breathing Aqueous Sulfur Flow Battery for Ultralow-Cost Long-Duration Electrical Storage journal, October 2017

Material design and engineering of next-generation flow-battery technologies journal, November 2016

Equilibrium Phase Relationship between SiC and a Liquid Phase in the Fe-Si-C System at 1523–1723 K journal, January 2009

40% efficient metamorphic GaInP∕GaInAs∕Ge multijunction solar cells journal, April 2007

Metamorphic epitaxy for multijunction solar cells journal, March 2016

Cost-minimized combinations of wind power, solar power and electrochemical storage, powering the grid up to 99.9% of the time journal, March 2013

Lowering the Bar on Battery Cost journal, October 2017

Thermophotovoltaics: a potential pathway to high efficiency concentrated solar power journal, January 2016

The Value of Concentrating Solar Power and Thermal Energy Storage journal, October 2010

Economic viability of energy storage systems based on price arbitrage potential in real-time U.S. electricity markets journal, February 2014

Thermal energy storage systems for concentrated solar power plants journal, November 2017

Combined selective emitter and filter for high performance incandescent lighting journal, August 2017

Some Mechanical Properties of Graphite at Elevated Temperatures journal, May 1951

Estimating the cost of high temperature liquid metal based concentrated solar power journal, March 2018

Highly efficient GaAs solar cells by limiting light emission angle journal, January 2013

Ultraefficient thermophotovoltaic power conversion by band-edge spectral filtering journal, July 2019

Design of thermophotovoltaics for tolerance of parasitic absorption journal, January 2019

Molten salt power towers operating at 600–650 °C: Salt selection and cost benefits
journal, April 2018

Pumping liquid metal at high temperatures up to 1,673 kelvin
journal, October 2017

Ocean Renewable Energy Storage (ORES) System: Analysis of an Undersea Energy Storage Concept
journal, April 2013

Generalized Optoelectronic Model of Series-Connected Multijunction Solar Cells
journal, November 2015

Estimating the value of electricity storage in PJM: Arbitrage and some welfare effects
journal, March 2009

Pumped thermal grid storage with heat exchange
journal, July 2017

The future cost of electrical energy storage based on experience rates
journal, July 2017

Air-Breathing Aqueous Sulfur Flow Battery for Ultralow-Cost Long-Duration Electrical Storage
journal, October 2017

Material design and engineering of next-generation flow-battery technologies
journal, November 2016

Equilibrium Phase Relationship between SiC and a Liquid Phase in the Fe-Si-C System at 1523–1723 K
journal, January 2009

40% efficient metamorphic GaInP∕GaInAs∕Ge multijunction solar cells
journal, April 2007

Metamorphic epitaxy for multijunction solar cells
journal, March 2016

Cost-minimized combinations of wind power, solar power and electrochemical storage, powering the grid up to 99.9% of the time
journal, March 2013

Lowering the Bar on Battery Cost
journal, October 2017

Thermophotovoltaics: a potential pathway to high efficiency concentrated solar power
journal, January 2016

The Value of Concentrating Solar Power and Thermal Energy Storage
journal, October 2010

Economic viability of energy storage systems based on price arbitrage potential in real-time U.S. electricity markets
journal, February 2014

Thermal energy storage systems for concentrated solar power plants
journal, November 2017

Combined selective emitter and filter for high performance incandescent lighting
journal, August 2017

Some Mechanical Properties of Graphite at Elevated Temperatures
journal, May 1951

Estimating the cost of high temperature liquid metal based concentrated solar power
journal, March 2018

Highly efficient GaAs solar cells by limiting light emission angle
journal, January 2013

Ultraefficient thermophotovoltaic power conversion by band-edge spectral filtering
journal, July 2019

Design of thermophotovoltaics for tolerance of parasitic absorption
journal, January 2019