Solar thermal: the search for cheaper storage solutions

By Giles Parkinson on 23 May 2012

A new Australian research program is looking to develop new materials that could reduce the volume of storage systems for solar thermal energy by a factor of 10, and deliver a significant reduction in costs.

Most of the storage systems being rolled out for solar thermal systems in Spain and elsewhere have used some form of molten salt, but a project being led by the University of South Australia is looking to exploit so-called “phase change” materials that can operate at higher temperatures, and either store more heat within the same volume, or require significantly less space.

The project – which also includes the Barbara Hardy Institute, and the University of Lleida in Spain, along with the Solar Oasis consortium which is developing a 44MW “big dish” solar power project in Whyalla, South Australia, and AORA Solar in Israel – is backed by grant funding from the Australian Solar Institute.

Project leader Professor Wasim Saman, from the department of sustainable energy engineering at the University of South Australia, said his team was likely to look at a number of different materials, including inorganic salts.