Strategies for the emergence of a dominant design for heat storage systems

Abstract

An important component of sustainable home energy systems is the self-sufficient generation and usage of energy. Although sustainable solutions to both generation and usage of energy in homes have been extensively studied in the past, the storage of energy has only scarcely been studied. This paper focuses specifically on thermal energy storage. Three competing designs are currently available: sensible, latent and thermochemical heat storage systems. The question is which will become the dominant design. Relevant antecedents for design dominance are explored and applied to this case in order to determine their weights. Furthermore, it is assessed which of these three alternatives will have the highest chance of achieving market dominance. Technological characteristics are most important and latent heat storage technology has the highest likelihood of achieving design dominance. The paper contributes to ongoing research that attempts to assign weights to factors for technology dominance in different arenas.