Combined “Renewable Energy–Thermal Energy Storage (RE–TES)” Systems: A Review

Abstract

Current industrial civilization relies on conventional energy sources and utilizes large and inefficient energy conversion systems. Increasing concerns regarding conventional fuel supplies and their environmental impacts (including greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to climate change) have promoted the importance of renewable energy (RE) sources for generating electricity and heat. This comprehensive review investigates integrating renewable energy sources (RES) with thermal energy storage (TES) systems, focusing on recent advancements and innovative approaches. Various RES (including solar, wind, geothermal, and ocean energy sources) are integrated with TES technologies such as sensible and latent TES systems. This review highlights the advantages and challenges of integrating RES and TES systems, emphasizing the importance of hybridizing multiple renewable energy sources to compensate for their deficiencies. Valuable outputs from these integrated systems (such as hydrogen production, electric power and freshwater) are discussed. The overall significance of RES–TES hybrid systems in addressing global energy demand and resource challenges is emphasized, demonstrating their potential to substitute fossil-fuel sources. This review provides a thorough understanding of the current state of RES–TES integration and offers insights into future developments in optimizing the utilization of renewable energy sources.