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John O | March 2017

Chicago startup has created a battery to store thermal energy


netenergy, a technology startup in chicago, ill., is receiving plaudits and drawing interest from across the country thanks to its innovative home and business heating system that is powered by a battery that stores thermal energy for use during on-peak hours.

 

netenergy_600

coo mike pintar speeaks at sxsw about netenergy's thermal battery. (youtube)

 

unlike ice storage solutions, netenergy’s black ice thermal storage system uses a phase-change composite that includes graphite for higher thermal conductivity. the key benefit to this technology is that the black ice system can charge and discharge in less than two hours as opposed to the standard 6-8 hours required for ice storage units.

 

the system is integrated with rooftop air conditioning units that run overnight when cost and demand are much lower. the battery stores the thermal energy and runs during the more expensive on-peak hours instead of the air conditioner. according to the company, the battery will not degrade over time and is expected to out-live the air conditioning units, which are changed every 15 years.

 

netenergy ceo and founder said al-hallaj is a chemical engineering professor at the university of illinois at chicago and also founded allcell technologies, which builds lithium-ion batteries with a proprietary thermal management system to dissipate heat.

 

al-hallaj explained his black ice concept in a recent interview with midwest energy news. the article said, “al-hallaj likens the technology to ice cubes in lemonade on a hot summer day. a freezer makes the ice beforehand using electricity, and then the ice is used to cool the lemonade. it actually absorbs the lemonade’s heat in a process called latent heat of fusion, a transfer of energy that involves a change in state (i.e. the ice melts from solid to liquid) rather than a change in temperature.”

 

the company has already been honored with the 2015 pritzker foundation prize and was awarded $250,000 as part of the 2015 wells fargo innovation incubator, which was also run by the u.s. department of energy’s national renewable energy laboratory (nrel).

 

netenergy has a tested, proven small prototype and is expected to go into commercial release in the second half of 2017. the first target will be small businesses and residential units with rooftop air conditioning systems and then the company will turn to retail outlets that can aggregate savings over several buildings.

 

to learn more about netenergy and its black ice concept, watch the video below:


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