Advanced Research in Solar Energy Storage

This paper gives an overview of the Solar Energy Storage Program at the Solar Energy Research Institute. The program provides research, systems analyses, and economic assessments of thermal and thermochemical energy storage and transport. Current activities include experimental research into very high temperature (above 800°C) thermal energy storage and assessment of novel thermochemical energy storage and transport systems. The applications for such high-temperature storage are thermochemical processes, solar thermal-electric power generation, regeneration of heat and electricity, industrial process heat, and thermally regenerative electrochemical systems. The research results for five high-temperatuTe thermal energy storage technologies and two thermochemical systems are described.