Seasonal thermal storage with subcooled phase change material

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SeasonCellWe capture the heat of summer for winterThis project is developing a thermal storage system, which stores heat over a long period of time with high efficiency. At the core of this technology lies a system of thermal storage cells made of a subcooled phase change material, that is optimally charged and discharged via an intelligent control system. This storage system enables a partial decoupling of the heating systems from the power grid and helps to improve the security of supply in winters. SeasonCellWe capture the heat of summer for winterProblem:Switzerland's 2050 climate goal has a strong impact on the energy market. Energy, CO2 and energy import must now be drastically minimized. The building sector has a significant impact, 30% of the energy consumption and 25% of the CO2 emissions go to the residential sector. The current global and ecological changes show how close Switzerland is to an energy shortage. Summers are getting hotter, winters are getting colder and the winter electricity gap is becoming more pronounced. Precisely for these reasons it is now of necessity to bring innovative and sustainable solutions to the market. Solution:SeasonCell is developing a seasonal storage system to bring the excess solar energy in summer to winter without any loss, minimizing the energy shortage and dependency. Based on the well-known principle of ski hand warmers, a smart and scalable system is being developed that stores heat in multiple cells, similar to a hand warmer, and can release it when needed. The loss-free storage is achieved through the property of the material in the hand warmer. The material, also called phase change material (PCM), is in a metastable state after the energy has been stored. The storage can be cooled down to ambient temperature at which it no longer exhibits any losses. If necessary, the material is agitated and the phase change from liquid to solid begins. This releases energy that was once supplied during charging. This phenomenon, as with hand warmers, allows the energy to be stored without losses over a long period of time. Energy/CO2 savings and market potential:The basis of potential savings is illustrated using a typical Swiss single-family home. By replacing the oil tank with the SeasonCell system, 70% of the annual heat demand can be stored on a 12m^2 footprint in a basement. The CO2 emission saved in this way amounts to 2 t CO2/a compared to pure oil heating. With a view to the energy strategy 2050, the share of fossil heating systems will be significantly minimized. We aim to replace 5% of the fossil heating systems (approx. 1’200 GWh/a for 150'000 SFH) with our system. This results in a CO2 saving of roughly 300'000 t CO2/a. With an average heating system cost of 50'000CHF a market potential of 7.5 billion CHF is formed. Work packages: WP1 SeasonCell Kickstart WP1.1 Company foundation WP1.2 Potential analysis of SC01 WP1.3 Development of business model WP1.4 Knowledge exchange with established research groupsWP2 Proof of concept WP2.1 Lab test activation technique WP2.2 Suppression of spontaneous activation WP2.3 Design of storage cells WP2.4 Implementation of the intelligent control systemWP4 Development prototype How can the EnergyLab help us:The financial booster from EnergyLab, means for us to progress in the discovery phase of our idea and thus work on work package 1 & 2. Based on the newly gained experience in WP1 & WP2, we can acquire further capital with an elaborated business concept. Furthermore, we want to establish new contacts to the Swiss industry with the help of the EnergyLab platform and thus gain better insights into the needs of end users and intermediaries.

Project Idea Metadata

Project Idea Name: Seasonal thermal storage with subcooled phase change material
Date: 7/19/2022 10:33:27 PM
Administrators:
- Simon In-Albon

Project Idea Description

SeasonCell

We capture the heat of summer for winter

Problem:

Switzerland's 2050 climate goal has a strong impact on the energy market. Energy, CO2 and energy import must now be drastically minimized. The building sector has a significant impact, 30% of the energy consumption and 25% of the CO2 emissions go to the residential sector. The current global and ecological changes show how close Switzerland is to an energy shortage. Summers are getting hotter, winters are getting colder and the winter electricity gap is becoming more pronounced. Precisely for these reasons it is now of necessity to bring innovative and sustainable solutions to the market.

Solution:

SeasonCell is developing a seasonal storage system to bring the excess solar energy in summer to winter without any loss, minimizing the energy shortage and dependency. Based on the well-known principle of ski hand warmers, a smart and scalable system is being developed that stores heat in multiple cells, similar to a hand warmer, and can release it when needed. The loss-free storage is achieved through the property of the material in the hand warmer. The material, also called phase change material (PCM), is in a metastable state after the energy has been stored. The storage can be cooled down to ambient temperature at which it no longer exhibits any losses. If necessary, the material is agitated and the phase change from liquid to solid begins. This releases energy that was once supplied during charging. This phenomenon, as with hand warmers, allows the energy to be stored without losses over a long period of time.

Energy/CO2 savings and market potential:

The basis of potential savings is illustrated using a typical Swiss single-family home. By replacing the oil tank with the SeasonCell system, 70% of the annual heat demand can be stored on a 12m^2 footprint in a basement. The CO2 emission saved in this way amounts to 2 t CO2/a compared to pure oil heating. With a view to the energy strategy 2050, the share of fossil heating systems will be significantly minimized. We aim to replace 5% of the fossil heating systems (approx. 1’200 GWh/a for 150'000 SFH) with our system. This results in a CO2 saving of roughly 300'000 t CO2/a. With an average heating system cost of 50'000CHF a market potential of 7.5 billion CHF is formed.

Work packages:

WP1 SeasonCell Kickstart

WP1.1 Company foundation

WP1.2 Potential analysis of SC01

WP1.3 Development of business model

WP1.4 Knowledge exchange with established research groups

WP2 Proof of concept

WP2.1 Lab test activation technique

WP2.2 Suppression of spontaneous activation

WP2.3 Design of storage cells

WP2.4 Implementation of the intelligent control system

WP4 Development prototype

How can the EnergyLab help us:

The financial booster from EnergyLab, means for us to progress in the discovery phase of our idea and thus work on work package 1 & 2. Based on the newly gained experience in WP1 & WP2, we can acquire further capital with an elaborated business concept. Furthermore, we want to establish new contacts to the Swiss industry with the help of the EnergyLab platform and thus gain better insights into the needs of end users and intermediaries.

SeasonCell

We capture the heat of summer for winter

This project is developing a thermal storage system, which stores heat over a long period of time with high efficiency. At the core of this technology lies a system of thermal storage cells made of a subcooled phase change material, that is optimally charged and discharged via an intelligent control system. This storage system enables a partial decoupling of the heating systems from the power grid and helps to improve the security of supply in winters.