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 degrees C) thermal energy storage and assessment of novel thermochemicalenergy storage and transport systems. The applications for such high-temperature storage are thermochemical processes, solar thermalelectric power generation, cogeneration of heat and electricity, industrial process heat, and thermally regenerative electrochemical systems. The research results for five high-temperature thermal energy storage technologies and two thermochemical systems aredescribed.