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Thermal Energy Storage using Desalination Salt
We are a group of engineers and researchers in the College of Engineering at Cal Poly Pomona, studying the feasibility of using an industrial waste, i.e., desalination concentrate as an alternative low-cost Thermal Energy Storage medium.
The Motivation
In 2011, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy announced its launch of the SunShot initiative, which is a plan to reduce the total cost of solar energy by 75%. The goal is meant to promote the large-scale use of solar power energy across the nation and would launch the United States into the next stage of clean energy production. Our team has already proposed a model using Reverse Osmosis Concentrate (ROC) that meets the Department of Energy SunShot Initiative Goal of $15 per kilowatt-hour for TES. But there is still more work in our research for an even more cost-effective solar energy storage system.
