Storing Energy

Chapter 14

Solar Ponds

César Valderrama^*

José Luis Cortina^*,**

Aliakbar Akbarzadeh^†*    Departament d’Enginyeria Química, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain^**    Water Technology Center CETaqua, Barcelona, Spain^†    School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University, Australia

Abstract

The chapter introduces the fundamentals of solar pond technology as a thermal storage process. It includes a brief description of solar pond technology in the context of energy storage, history, fundamentals; a classification of the different ponds used for capture and storage of solar energy; the fundamentals of the salinity gradient solar pond, describing the research efforts over recent decades; the design, construction, and ...