In Short : A recent solar energy storage breakthrough holds the potential to make European households self-sufficient in terms of energy. The advancement in energy storage technology allows for more efficient and cost-effective storage of solar energy, enabling households to store excess energy generated during the day and use it during periods of low sunlight or at night. This development is significant for European countries aiming to transition to renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. By harnessing solar power and storing it effectively, households can contribute to the overall goal of creating a sustainable and environmentally friendly energy ecosystem.
In Detail : Norwegian startup Photoncycle says it can store solar energy from summer to winter cheaper than batteries
One of the biggest issues with solar energy is that it is inconsistent over days and over seasons. Many startups have focused on trying to smooth energy supply over the day — saving up energy during the day for use during the night-time or outside peak hours.
But few have tackled interseasonal storage of solar energy. What if homes could save abundant solar energy created in sunny months to be used for heat and electricity in winter?
So far, this vision has been impossible to achieve. Batteries are too expensive and have short lifespans, and high costs and poor efficiency have crossed hydrogen, which does not emit greenhouse gases when burned, off the list of solutions.
Now, one startup from Norway — a country in a region that probably hopes it could save a little sunlight for cold winters — says it could bring a solution to market in the next couple of years, using solid hydrogen.
The hydrogen lab
The startup, Photoncycle, has a space in the basement of an accelerator in the Oslo Science Park. It’s more lab than office; on the floor is a chair-size copper cylinder with a thick styrofoam wrapping around it. This is Photoncycle’s breakthrough technology.
The company wants to install a larger model of the cylinder — about three cubic meters large — in the ground a few yards from residential properties. The cylinder contains a patented solution of solid hydrogen, which has more efficient storage capabilities than batteries or liquid hydrogen.
Solar panels on the roofs of the nearby buildings will feed the system with energy to be stored in the unit. Excess energy will be sold to the grid.
A lack of storage for solar power generated in the summer creates a “significant mismatch” between when electricity is produced and when it is consumed: “This is one of the big challenges around how to get the renewable energy system to work properly,” says Photoncycle’s founder, Bjørn Brandtzaeg.
Houses are currently likely to only use about 50% of what is produced, he says.
“The other 50% increasingly has no value, because when it’s produced it’s basically going to be dumped or curtailed. If you can store that surplus, and then release it during the winter or when you actually have demand for energy, then you have a real possibility to make a difference.”
Partnering with academia
Brandtzaeg is a seasoned infrastructure entrepreneur. The previous two companies he founded were large — one was an energy infrastructure company in Georgia, the other is Norwegian renewable energy company Clean Energy Group. In contrast, Photoncycle has just nine employees and has been financed with Brandtzaeg’s own capital and funding from Startup Lab for the last two years.
The idea for the company began when Brandtzaeg was a visiting fellow at MIT in the US, and part of the team looking at the future of energy storage and how to balance an energy grid made up of 100% renewable energy. The entrepreneur, who does not have a technical background, has partnered with people in academia to come up with a non-flammable solution that doesn’t lose a lot of energy in the conversion process.