A review of material screening in pure and mixed-metal oxide thermochemical energy storage (TCES) systems for concentrated solar power (CSP) applications

Abstract

Thermochemical energy storage (TCES) systems have attracted great interest in concentrated solar power (CSP) applications during past years. Storing sunlight as chemical energy during the day enables us to use it at night or during cloudy periods, which alleviates the inherent intermittency of solar sourced energy. Metal oxides are among the most attractive TCES materials, as they possess high-energy density and high reduction/oxidation temperatures which are suitable for driving high-efficiency thermodynamic power cycles. Although various candidate materials have already been introduced in metal/mixed-metal oxide TCES technologies, material selection is still a challenging process, since it has a profound impact on overall cost and performance of TCES technologies. This article focuses on a comprehensive literature survey on material screening in metal/mixed-metal oxide TCES systems introducing pros and cons of each candidate material. Although the screening indicated high potential candidate materials for TCES technologies, further investigations are required in this field to develop TCES systems which are compatible with CSP applications.