Integration of thermal energy storage components with buildings – Recent development and challenges

The main drawback of renewable energy sources is the variability and intermittence in their availability; causing significant mismatches between the time of energy demand and energy production. To make these future energy sources and conversion technologies a viable solution, it is necessary to use significant levels of energy storage technologies that enable matching of supply and demand. Energy storage technologies play a crucial role in designing and operating high performance sustainable buildings and districts, and are definitely needed for the efficient use of renewable energy resources by dealing with the intermittency of energy supply and demand. However, there is still a distinct lack of guidance on the effective integration and operation of thermal energy storage at the building or district levels. The paper first gives an overview of the most recent development in modelling and validation of the energy storage system/components and its integration with buildings: It covers both active and passive technologies. The abilities and limitations of each technology for the integration, and the challenges of coupling of the model with energy simulation programs are also discussed. Based on these insights, the corresponding technological problems and future research directions for their applications are also described.