Stone Solar Power Generation

Are soapstone & granite rocks the next generation of solar energy collectors?

Experimental Investigation of Soapstone and Granite Rocks as Energy-Storage Materials for Concentrated Solar Power Generation and Solar Drying Technology. ACS Omega, 2023; 8 (21): 18554 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.3c00314 American Chemical Society. "The next generation of solar energy collectors could be rocks." ScienceDaily.

Can a granite & soapstone store solar energy?

Scientists have discovered a way to store the Sun’s energy in rocks and convert the heat into electricity. Using an approach called concentrated solar power, a team of researchers from Tanzania found that certain granite and soapstones could store solar heat at a sufficiently high density to serve as a primitive form of battery.

Can solar energy be stored in rocks?

Sandia designed a small 100 kWh test project at its National Solar Thermal Test Facility. PV panels are installed at the site, which is being tested for its ability to store intermittent generation. “One of the advantages of thermal energy storage in rocks is that it can be built anywhere,” said Walter Gerstle, co-founder of CSolPower.

Is soapstone a thermal energy storage resource?

Granites are the most abundant rocks in the continental crust. Soapstone, meanwhile, has been used since ancient times to make cooking pots and the internal linings of stoves, but no one has studied its potential for thermal energy storage. The researchers collected several rock samples from the Craton and Usagaran belts for analysis.

What is concentrated solar power & how does it work?

Using a new approach known as concentrated solar power, heat from the sun is stored then used to dry foods or create electricity. A team reporting in ACS Omega has found that certain soapstone and granite samples from Tanzania are well suited for storing this solar heat, featuring high energy densities and stability even at high temperatures.

Could ponec & Antora energy be part of a multi-trillion-dollar energy storage sector?

If successful, Ponec and his start-up Antora Energy could be part of a new, multi-trillion-dollar energy storage sector that simply uses sun or wind to make boxes of rocks hot enough to run the world’s biggest factories. “People sometimes feel like they’re insulting us by saying, ‘Hey, that sounds really simple,” Ponec laughed.