فن آوری های نوین و پیشرفت های امکان پذیر در ذخیره سازی انرژی

Energy storage technologies may be electrical or thermal. Electrical energy stores have an electrical input and output to connect them to the system of which they form part, while thermal stores have a thermal input and output. The principal electrical energy storage technologies described are electrochemical systems (batteries and flow cells), kinetic energy storage (flywheels) and potential energy storage, in the form of pumped hydro and compressed air. Complementary thermal storage technologies include those based on the sensible and latent heat capacity of materials, which include bulk and smaller-capacity hot and cold water storage systems, ice storage, phase change materials and specific bespoke thermal storage media. For the majority of the storage technologies considered here, the potential for fundamental step changes in performance is limited. For electrochemical systems, basic chemistry suggests that lithium-based technologies represent the pinnacle of cell development. This means that the greatest potential for technological advances probably lies in the incremental development of existing technologies, facilitated by advances in materials science, engineering, processing and fabrication. These considerations are applicable to both electrical and thermal storage. Such incremental developments in the core storage technologies are likely to be complemented and supported by advances in systems integration and engineering. Future energy storage technologies may be expected to offer improved energy and power densities, although, in practice, gains in reliability, longevity, cycle life expectancy and cost may be more significant than increases in energy/powerdensity per se.

Energy storage embraces a wide range of energies, technologies, scales and applications. Energy may be converted to stored form in chemical, electrical, kinetic, potential or thermal media. It can be converted for final use directly, for example when heat is taken from a thermal energy store, or indirectly via an energy conversion system, for example when electricity is generated via the turbine generator of a pumped hydro storage system. Energy storage systems are generally described as either electrical or thermal. Electrical energy storage embraces all the technologies and systems where the external interface is electrical. The energy storage medium itself may use one of a number of technologies, including electrochemical systems, kinetic energy storage and potential energy storage. The electrical interface is an essential element of electrical energy storage systems and is provided by a power conversion system (PCS). The PCS can represent more than 25% of the overall cost of a complete electrical energy storage system. In contrast, thermal energy storage systems utilise either the sensible or latent heat capacity of materials to provide a heating or cooling resource, which can be replenished as required. Electrical energy storage systems find ready application in a diverse range of markets. They include traction and propulsion, the ubiquitous automotive starting, lighting and ignition (SLI) sector, standby power, remote area power supplies (RAPS) and in electrical power systems. This last-named sector is of most interest in the present paper. In contrast, thermal energy storage has a somewhat more restricted applications domain, principally embracing the built environment, industry and certain other niche markets. Applications in the built environment are of principal interest in the context of this paper.