MIT spinout 247Solar is building high-temperature, concentrated solar power systems that use overnight thermal energy storage to provide round-the-clock power and industrial-grade heat.have become a familiar sight, revolutionizing how we generate electricity. However, complete decarbonization requires a broader arsenal of technologies. This is because renewable sources like solar and wind are intermittent, meaning they don’t produce power consistently.
Their initial journey wasn’t smooth sailing. A crucial solar receiver was damaged during testing, and the company faced financial constraints. However, Anderson remained persistent. By 2015, advancements in materials science allowed him to swap the ceramic heat exchanger for a new high-temperature metal alloy, reviving the project.
The system’s brilliance lies in its thermal energy storage. Excess hot air is diverted to a long-duration storage system, where it heats solid materials that retain the heat for later use. This stored thermal energy becomes the workhorse during the night, powering the turbines when the sun dips below the horizon.
“We’re really moving toward these hybrid systems, which work like a Prius – sometimes you’re using one source of energy, sometimes you’re using the other,” says Anderson.