An energy storage system that could potentially power a city of 100,000 homes with just renewable energy has been developed by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The Thermal Energy Grid Storage-Multi-Junction Photovoltaics system, called “sun in a box”, stores heat from excess wind and solar power in tanks of molten silicon. The light emitted can be converted into electricity and fed to a grid. A team led by MIT Professor David Keith used the technology to create an energy-efficient building for a new research centre on climate change and sustainability.
An energy storage system that could potentially power a city of 100,000 homes with just renewable energy has been developed by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The Thermal Energy Grid Storage-Multi-Junction Photovoltaics system, called “sun in a box”, stores heat from excess wind and solar power in tanks of molten silicon. The light emitted can be converted into electricity and fed to a grid. The system is half the cost of the current cheapest grid-scale energy system, pumped hydro, and would be far more affordable than lithium battery storage, the researchers said.