Storing solar energy in rock and sand

Storing solar energy in rock and sand

The US Dept. of Energy awarded $4.35 million to Arizona Public Service and Tucson-based US Solar to develop thermal storage systems for solar energy. One of the test sites, the Saguaro Solar Power Plant [right, credit APS], near Red Rock, north of Tucson, will store the energy in oil in a tank filled with rock. The other site is in Georgia and will use sand to absorb the heat for use later.

http://arizonageology.blogspot.com/2008/10/storing-solar-energy-in-rock-and-sand.html