Scientists design ultra-efficient energy storage system using pebbles — here's how it works
In simpler terms, this breakthrough means that storing clean, renewable energy could become easier, cheaper, and more efficient.
Researchers at Sweden's KTH Royal Institute of Technology have designed a new system for storing thermal energy that builds on existing technology, improving efficiency by adding one surprising element: pebbles.
Currently, in state-of-the-art solar thermal energy systems, molten salt is used to store energy for long-term usage. However, as detailed by SolarPACES, commercial molten salt has constraints, including a limited operational temperature window and its corrosive nature. It is also used in fertilizers, meaning it can be expensive and difficult to obtain.
Conversely, pebbles are neither expensive nor difficult to acquire, and the KTH researchers found that they could be used in place of the molten salt, storing heat up to 1,472 degrees Fahrenheit (well above the 1,112 degrees Fahrenheit limit for molten salt) while attaining thermal efficiency over 90%, per SolarPACES.
In simpler terms, this breakthrough means that storing clean, renewable energy harvested from solar cells could become easier, cheaper, and more efficient — and that's good news for everybody.
