They skipped a few real competitors that'll shrink their market:
1. In places with underground water reservoirs, these can be used for heat storage very similar to this. It's location dependant but I think there's European district heating networks doing this already.
2. Heat pumps for process steam are gaining ground. The temperature at which heat pumps lose competitivness is slowly rising over time. They mention storage at 600C. Heat pumps win under 80C and are up to 160C and aiming for 200C though at those temps cheap gas will probably win for now. Heat pumps can also recycle process heat and cool and heat at the same time.
3. Wind doesn't get mentioned. Wind doesn't pair as neatly with batteries as solar does but in places with seasonal storage issues the batteries can be used for solar and wind during summer and wind plus whatever (biogas/nuclear/hydro) in winter. They need to worry about both centralised big batteries and customer sited ones.
In general I'm supportive of the idea, but similar to the Nordic sand battery, when they start talking about generating electricity from the stored heat I take that as a signal that they've realised the alternatives above combine to really squeeze the market they have left and undermines my faith in the rest of the product.
gaoryrt · 2h ago
Why go throught the extra solar -> electricity -> resistive heating -> soil instead of directly doing solar -> heating a metal rod -> soil?
Cutting out the conversion steps should be more efficient.
nabla9 · 2h ago
> The purpose of Standard Thermal is to make energy from solar PV available 24/7/365 at a price that is competitive with US natural gas.
They compare to natural gas. Not the cheapest alternative.
>Pipes run through the pile, and fluid flowing through them removes heat to supply the customer
Just basic district level geothermal heat pumps do the same. You don't need to heat the soil. Just drill down and install pipes. Earth generates heat. What is the cost difference now?
1. In places with underground water reservoirs, these can be used for heat storage very similar to this. It's location dependant but I think there's European district heating networks doing this already.
2. Heat pumps for process steam are gaining ground. The temperature at which heat pumps lose competitivness is slowly rising over time. They mention storage at 600C. Heat pumps win under 80C and are up to 160C and aiming for 200C though at those temps cheap gas will probably win for now. Heat pumps can also recycle process heat and cool and heat at the same time.
3. Wind doesn't get mentioned. Wind doesn't pair as neatly with batteries as solar does but in places with seasonal storage issues the batteries can be used for solar and wind during summer and wind plus whatever (biogas/nuclear/hydro) in winter. They need to worry about both centralised big batteries and customer sited ones.
In general I'm supportive of the idea, but similar to the Nordic sand battery, when they start talking about generating electricity from the stored heat I take that as a signal that they've realised the alternatives above combine to really squeeze the market they have left and undermines my faith in the rest of the product.
Cutting out the conversion steps should be more efficient.
They compare to natural gas. Not the cheapest alternative.
>Pipes run through the pile, and fluid flowing through them removes heat to supply the customer
Just basic district level geothermal heat pumps do the same. You don't need to heat the soil. Just drill down and install pipes. Earth generates heat. What is the cost difference now?