Researchers from Finland have installed the world’s first fully working “sand battery”, which can store power from renewable energy sources.
Markku Ylönen and Tommi Erone, the developers, who spoke to the BBC, said the innovation could solve the problem of year-round supply of renewable energy such as solar and wind.
The device, which is said to use low-grade sand, is charged with heat made from electricity from solar or wind. The sand then stores the heat at around 500C, which can warm homes when the weather is colder and energy more expensive.
Ylönen and Erone, who are also founders of Polar Night Energy, said they had been modifying the sand battery idea and had first tested its operations in the Finnish city of Tampere during the winter of 2020 to 2021.
