Task Information
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Duration
January 2009 -- December 2012
Operating Agents
SHC
Wim van Helden
ECN Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands
vanhelden@ecn.nl
ECES
Andreas Hauer
ZAE Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research
Germany
hauer@muc.zae-bayern.de |
Task News
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The Task was approved at the June 2008 IEA SHC Executive Committee Meeting in
Graz, Austria
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 Overview
Task 42 is a joint Task with the IEA Energy Conservation through Energy Storage
(ECES) Programme Task 24.
Thermal energy storage is an important technology for renewable energy systems
and energy efficiency. By improving the effectiveness of thermal storage, the
effectiveness of all renewable energy technologies that supply heat can be
improved.
Particularly for solar thermal systems, thermal energy storage is essential. To
reach high solar fractions, it is necessary to store heat (or cold) efficiently
for longer periods of time. Until now, no cost-effective compact storage
technologies are available to do this. For high solar fraction systems, hot
water stores are expensive and require very large volumes of space. Alternative
storage technologies, such as phase change materials (PCMs) and thermochemical
materials (TCMs) are available on a laboratory scale. However, more research and
development is needed before these technologies can be developed into commercial
solutions.
In several IEA Annexes , it was concluded that materials are the main bottleneck
for finding effective solutions for compact thermal energy storage, and that
there is a need for new storage materials with a higher specific energy storage
density and lower material cost.
Around the world, several groups are working on either thermal energy storage
materials or applications. However, these activities are not sufficiently
linked. The current activities are either limited to specific applications, or
to specific materials. What is needed, and what can be provided by this task, is
a way to bring the ongoing work on materials and applications together.
Until now, two expert meetings were held to help shape this task: a first expert
meeting in October 2007 in Zürich, Switzerland, followed by a Task Definition
Meeting in April 2008 in Petten, the Netherlands. In addition, a proposal for
the Task was presented to both the ECES and SHC ExCos in November and December
2007, respectively. Finally, a separate meeting was held in Düsseldorf, Germany
in March 2008 between the two proposed Operating Agents and the Dutch and German
ExCo members, to discuss the possibility and desirability of organising the Task
as a Joint Task. This document is the result of these five meetings. |
