Standard Thermal: Energy Storage 500x Cheaper Than Batteries
16 days ago
- #thermal storage
- #renewable energy
- #solar energy
- Standard Thermal aims to provide 24/7/365 solar energy at a cost competitive with US natural gas by storing energy as heat in large dirt piles.
- The system uses co-located solar PV arrays to generate electricity, which is converted to heat and stored in dirt mounds. Heat is extracted via pipes for customer use.
- Key customer segments include solar developers with oversized arrays and isolated energy users reliant on propane or fuel oil.
- Medium-term goal is to repower coal power plants by using stored heat to generate steam for turbines instead of burning coal.
- Thermal storage is cost-effective due to the low cost of dirt as a storage material, with capital costs under $0.10/kWh thermal.
- The technology is modular and scalable, with a 100-kilowatt test site in Oklahoma nearing commercial readiness.
- Standard Thermal differentiates from competitors by focusing on seasonal storage (months) rather than short-term (days), leveraging dirt's low cost and slow discharge rates.
- The company is incubated by Orca Sciences and plans to spin out and fundraise in early 2026.
- Thermal storage complements batteries by addressing seasonal energy gaps, where batteries are too expensive for long-term storage.
- The system is designed for slow charge/discharge cycles, aligning with industrial and seasonal energy demands.