Promising salt for heat storage

Salt batteries can store summer heat to be used in winter, but which salt works best for the purpose? On 19 December, Lian Blijlevens will defend her PhD thesis on her research into salt for heat storage at Radboud University. Although a growing number of roofs sport solar panels, these panels only convert light from the sun into electricity. The solar panels themselves are also heated by the sun, but this heat is now being lost. Blijlevens: "The heat can be extracted by a solar boiler and used to heat your house or shower. However, in summer you always generate more solar heat than you use, and in winter you have less. So what we need is a way to preserve that heat. Salt battery.