Analyzing the thermo-mechanical behavior of solar thermal energy storage materials

Efficient systems for high performance thermal energy storage are required to improve the integration of renewable energy sources into industrial thermodynamic solar power plants. According to today’s constraints, the storage approaches so far developed are not able to fulfill all the current environmental and technical requirements. Solar radiation varies continuously throughout the day, so it is necessary to store the heat energy from the sun which can be utilized during hours when there is no sunshine. Capacity of the heat storage mainly depends on charging characteristics of the storage materials. In this paper, the focus is on Low Temperature Energy storage for Cooling Applications using sensible heat materials. Thermal energy storage media such as concrete has been used as sensible heat materials. In addition, various techniques employed to enhance the performance of sensible heat storage system have been discussed. Also, the addition of nanocomposite materials to concrete may give better thermo-mechanical properties to the thermal energy storage materials. This research work helps to acquire the essential information for continuing research in the improvement of cost-effective and reliable sensible thermal storage systems.