The U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office is funding the Store4Build project to spur development of thermal energy storage (TES) technologies for buildings. Research participants U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), U.S. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and U.S. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will advance energy storage in materials such as water or salt hydrates instead of as electrical energy.

TES solutions can improve load flexibility, promote the use of renewable energy sources, and allow heat pumps to function more effectively and in more extreme climates. As almost 50% of electricity used in buildings is directed toward meeting thermal loads, TES systems can enhance the economics and efficiency of heating and cooling load delivery.

To achieve installed capital costs of less than $15/kWh of stored thermal energy, the consortium plans to develop metrics for identifying optimal performance targets for power and energy density, working temperature, materials and systems costs, round-trip efficiency, lifetime and durability, installation and operation, and maintenance costs.

Source: NREL/LBNL/ORNL

“By shifting HVAC loads off-peak, TES addresses grid challenges associated with electrification and decarbonization,” Kyle Gluesenkamp, ORNL senior scientist and Stor4Build co-director, said. "Stor4Build will bring together the stakeholders necessary to accelerate development and market adoption of scalable TES technologies."

The project will focus on materials optimization and manufacturing, modeling and analysis, system optimization and integration, and market, policy and equity. The Store4Build consortium also plans to build a community-scale TES demonstration project that can serve as a foundation for large-scale thermal storage deployments, along with electrochemical battery energy storage and systems capable of satisfying both the heating and cooling needs in buildings.