IceCycle Thermal Storage

The storage of electric energy is vitally important, but often neglected for other green options.  If energy storage could be deployed in sufficient quantity throughout Texas, it would eliminate the need for ALL the currently proposed power plants, and the need for many of the most polluting existing power plants.  Power plants have to be built to serve short spikes in peak demand because air conditioning drives up peak demand.  Thermal energy storage (TES) lowers spikes in peak demand by storing surplus energy in off peak periods, and utilizing this stored energy during periods of high peak demand.  Thermal energy storage is an established and proven technology for larger facilities, but has not been available for mass deployment in smaller facilities.  Trinity Thermal Systems in Texas has a new patented product called ‘IceCycle’ that captures and stores off peak air conditioning energy for homes and smaller business facilities. 

IceCycle is a Green Energy Product that saves energy, eliminates the need for new power plants, and qualifies for LEED points.   IceCycle shifts up to 95% of air conditioning energy consumption to less expensive off peak periods and saves up to 20% in energy.  IceCycle simply and seamlessly harnesses the energy of the smaller unitary air conditioning systems, which most of us use in our homes and businesses daily.  Conventional TES systems address large commercial facilities, but IceCycle can be deployed for the masses.  From a UT-MBA study on potential markets for IceCycle, 94% of all commercial buildings use the smaller unitary air conditioning systems that IceCycle works with.  Almost all of our homes use unitary air conditioning.  IceCycle’s unique Smart Controller can also control and shift the energy consumption for other appliances, such as water heaters and pool pumps.   

Off peak cooling is not only less expensive, but more efficient because it is done in cooler nighttime temperatures with less strain on air conditioning equipment.  Power plants save energy at night too. According to a California Energy Commission (CEC) study… “Using power at night instead of during the afternoon can reduce power plant energy consumption and pollution by 20% to 43%, as base-loaded power plants running at night when it is cooler are far more efficient than peaker plants being operated in the heat of the day”. (http://www.roi-engineering.com/new_articles/SolutiontotheEnergyCrisis.pdf) Guest blog post by Mark Glover-CEO & David Anderson-COO of Trinity Thermal Systems - co-founders, inventors, and pioneers in green energy storage technology. http://www.trinity-thermal.com/