Volume 21: Sustainable Energy Solutions for a Post-COVID Recovery towards a Better Future: Part IV

Latent heat thermal energy storage for sport facilities with photovoltaic overproduction Anton Egersand, Emil Fransson, Maher Azaza

Abstract

With increased renewable energy sources such as photovoltaics and an increased need for decarbonization, investing in energy storage methods will be vital. In this paper, a thermal energy storage for sport facilities with photovoltaic overproduction was examined to investigate the economic and heat decarbonization potential. A MATLAB model for a latent heat thermal energy storage was created with hourly input data of heat demand, electric demand, and PV production. The storage uses a phase change material for converting electricity to heat from overproduction of PV and from an auxiliary heater connected to the grid to cover a heat demand. The system became most profitable with 100% auxiliary compensation from the electric grid, due to utilization of grid electricity during the colder months which has more costly heat prices. With an optimal storage size of 510 kWh, it was able to utilize 82% of the annual PV overproduction, reduce the heat demand by up to 12%, mitigate 304 tons worth of CO2 emissions, and generate a profit of 23 200 EUR. With these results, LHTES has the potential to be a feasible option for energy storage with the rise of variable renewable energy sources.

Keywords Latent heat thermal energy storage, phase change material, Thermal energy storage, Latent Heat, High-Temperature PCM