Comparison of candidate materials for seasonal storage of solar heat through dynamic simulation of building and renewable energy system

In a survey recently conducted by ECN and the University of Utrecht in The Netherlands [Visscher, Oonk et al, 2004]), several potential thermo chemical materials (TCM's) for seasonal storage of solar heat were determined. This first selection was performed on literature data and a set of selection criteria alone. A further selection was performed by a simulation and comparison procedure between storage materials in a building simulation environment, with a hot water store as a reference case. In this way a few TCM's were identified that may offer chances for development of a new autonomous energy storage system with an effective energy storage density that is at least one order of magnitude larger than that of a hot water store.