Heat Storage

Heart of Baymak's new tank production factory in Tuzla near Istanbul, Turkey, is its automated, enamelling line: The production capacity has increased from 75,000 to 175,000 tanks per year.
Photo: Baymak

This document was prepared by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy and describes how a New England Dairy farm uses solar energy to reduce cost and lower carbon emissions.

In 2008 Oakhurst Dairy installed 2,500 square feet of solar panels on the roof of their headquarters in Portland, Maine to heat water for case washing. This is one of the largest solar thermal systems in the northeastern US.

This report was compiled by Ray Dracker of Solar Millennium LLC and Klaus-Jergen Riffelmann of Flagsol for California’s Integrated Energy Policy Workshop in July of 2008.

The presentation focuses on the different types of solar energy storage and how they can improve solar plants. Because of the unpredictable nature of the amount of solar radiation available for solar power plants, storage is a necessary tool in ensuring the reliability and cost-effectiveness of solar energy.

This brochure has been provided by the European Commission under the European Community’s Framework Programmes for Research.

Information on concentrated solar thermal energy is given in this article. The first section provides an overview of the technology, including both the current state of the technology and its future potential. The second part explains the research areas covered by European Community funded projects since 1992 by highlighting specific projects.

This paper was released by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada in 2010. The Vancouver Olympic Games showed large-scale success of solar thermal energy in Canada.

Solar thermal modules supplied energy that supplied the Vancouver Olympic Village buildings and utilized it for other purposes. Estimates say that the buildings achieved 30 to 70 percent greater energy efficiency compared to standard buildings built to minimum code.

This is a thesis research paper from the University of Washington in 2006. The objective of the study is to design a solar thermal heating system with seasonal storage for a greenhouse, optimized for the environmental impact, thermal efficiency and cost.

The main goals of the study is to: provide 100 percent solar heat to the greenhouse; limit the size of the storage to fit within the footprint of the greenhouse; minimize environmental impact and cost; maintain greenhouse temperatures ideal for optimum growing; maintain historic greenhouse structure.

This document was prepared by two researchers from the Osaka University, Department of Architectural Engineering. It describes the prototype solar chimney with PCM (Phase Change Material) storage, together with a numerical model for predicting air flow rate in a solar chimney and temperature of aluminum plate, air and PCM.

The six main features in different colours: This is the brand mark of a new website called saisonalspeicher.de (seasonal heat storage) launched in December by Solites, the German Research Institute for Solar and Sustainable Thermal Energy Systems within the company network of the Steinbeis Foundation.

This report was issued by the Green Institute in 2008 and discusses the option of a “solar carve-out” to build Minnesota’s solar future.

To develop Minnesota’s renewable sources beyond 25 percent, development of additional renewable energy will be necessary, specifically solar technology.

This report was released in 2010, but provides an overview and tables with historical data from 1999-2008. It was prepared by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) and it gives a summary of total shipments and manufacturing trends in 2008 in the U.S.

In 2008, active manufacturers and importers rose from 60 to 74, and almost 17 million square feet of solar thermal collectors were shipped. This was also on the rise from 15.2 million square feet in 2007.