The Energy Storage Project

The broad aim of the project is to reduce the cost of heating an existing house using technology that captures and stores energy from sustainable sources.

The project has three distinct phases:-

- First a passive solar energy capture system is installed that will convert sunlight into heat during winter months. As can be seen from the photograph, on the right of the page, this phase is fairly well advanced and it is hoped the equipment will be ready to test during the remaining weeks of the winter.

- The second phase will involve the short term storage of heat energy – for a period of two to three hours – so that any excess solar energy captured in the late afternoon can be used in the early evening.

- The third phase is altogether more ambitious and will involve the long term storage of heat energy captured during summer months and the retrieval of that energy in the autumn and early winter months.

In the long term it is hoped to be able to develop a set of simple, low cost, technologies that can be retrofitted, in some cases by householders themselves, to existing homes.

Over the following weeks more details of this project along with technical details of similar domestic energy storage initiatives will be included here and described elsewhere on theEnergyCrowd web site. Updates will also be included in the CarbonFree Weekly Newsletter and via the CarbonFree RSS newsfeed.