raw · articles · ingested 2026-02-10
Cool Cell Docs — Storage May 2002 (Page 2)
Source: Steve Baer / Zomeworks archive
Industrial buildings will probably be first but if the all-powerful forces of fashion take a notion they may start in our houses, at least some peoples.
Whatever suits natural heating and cooling will also suit the electric grid. Unfortunately those favoring power plants are unlikely to favor heat storage that is compatible with natural heating and cooling.
A grid fed more and more by wind generators and solar panels create more and more need for storage to accommodate the fluctuating power produced by wind and sun. Once again energy storage is of utmost importance.
A Dilemma
Why would the utilities wish to help develop thermal storage that would allow buildings to evade using electric energy? In many climates the night thermal storage allows heat to coast into the building in winter and coast out in summer, no heat pump is necessary, the heat flows by itself. Though utilities may lose business to natural systems where heat flows by itself, in more difficult climates heat pumps will gain more business from natural gas and propane. Than they look to nature.
Source: Steve Baer, Zomeworks, May 2002. Text extracted by OCR from scanned document.
PDF: 2002-05-01-storage-2.pdf