Cooling Giants Introduce Smaller Thermal Storage Units

Thermal energy storage (TES) is mostly used in our largest buildings, but that may finally change. Two major manufacturers of rooftop air conditioning units, Trane and Carrier, have teamed up with Ice Energy to offer “ice-ready” equipment compatible with Ice Bear TES technology. The “plug-and-play” equipment will allow owners of small and medium-size commercial buildings to save money by using off-peak power for cooling. In addition to saving money, using off-peak power for cooling often offers environmental benefits as well—both by reducing the need for utilities to fire up supplemental power plants and by making it easier to incorporate renewable energy sources into the mix. If significant wind power is generated at night today, there is often no market for it; with greater use of TES, the market for nighttime wind power could grow.

The Ice Bear TES system does most of its chilling at night during off-peak hours; the energy is stored as ice, which is used during the heat of the day to cool the building (See EBN “Buildings on Ice: Making the Case for Thermal Energy Storage,”