Community Home Energy Storage
Steven Carlin
The communal sand thermal battery stores excess renewable energy as heat in sand, allowing neighbourhoods to share resources, cut costs, and reduce fossil fuel use for greater energy independence.
Design Problem
Necessity is the mother of invention and creative discontent turns a negative into a positive. Here the cost-of-living crisis acts as an opportunity for locals within a community to work together to source and store their own energy.
The communal sand thermal battery is a sustainable energy storage solution designed for neighbourhoods aiming to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. It stores excess renewable energy—such as solar or wind—as heat within a large, insulated sand reservoir. Sand's high thermal capacity allows it to retain heat for extended periods, which can be redistributed for home heating or converted to electricity during peak demand. This cooperative system enables households to share resources, lower energy costs, and enhance grid resilience. Ideal for off-grid or hybrid systems, the sand battery promotes energy independence and supports the transition to cleaner, community-driven energy solutions. Using online information gathering as my main research technique and keeping abreast of current and upcoming technologies, I designed this system
Description of the Project
I created an initial 8 ideas then used a selection matrix to select the best 3 ideas. Finally, using the criteria for the project I selected the best option with a slight modification from some aspects of other ideas that I liked.
Process
About me
A 37-year-old married father of one with one on the way! My goal is to combine my technical background with creative and challenging future design prospects for career satisfaction.