Your questions about our heat battery

STORE SUMMER'S HEAT AND USE IT IN THE WINTER

This innovative battery uses thermochemical material to store renewable energy in an inexpensive and lossless way. This helps to bridge longer periods, especially during winter months, when there is less or no energy from sun, wind or other sustainable sources. In essence, the heat battery stores summer's heat and uses it in the winter to warm your home.

The heat battery uses two basic ingredients:  water vapour and salt. When these components are brought together, the water binds to the salt, creating new salt crystals. This process releases heat. This process is reversible. By bringing heat back into the system, water and salt are separated. As long as water and salt are separate, energy is stored without loss. Once you bring the two back together again, the stored heat will again be released. The heat battery is stable, works without loss of energy and will last at least 20 years if used correctly.

PILOTS PROJECTS IN EXISTING HOMES

Project leader Olaf Adan, who works for TU/e and TNO, says the system is both ingenious and simple. “This simplicity makes it possible to keep the heat battery affordable, also for blocks of houses or even for individual homes. Currently, Adan and his team are working on the development of the heat battery into a commercial product that fully answers to end user demands. The cost price will be below that of state of the art electric storage systems, with better performance. With a refrigerator-sized battery, a typical modern family can take a hot shower for two weeks." Within two years, the cities of Eindhoven, Gdansk (Poland) and Nice (France) will start a number of pilot projects in existing homes.