Solar radiation is an abundant renewable source of energy. It has been used in the past for different applications as an energy source. The problem with it has been the loss of the excess energy that can be harvested, but can not be utilized, due to lack of proper energy storage system. If a storage system can be designed so that the excess energy can be stored and utilized at a later time, the efficiency, and therefore the economic benefit of the solar energy system will increase drastically. This project will look at a possible scenario to solve this problem using reversible adsorption. Combining this technology with solar collectors, energy stored during the day can be used for heating during the night and the heat stored from the summer can be used for heating during winter months.

Adsorption is exothermic which is complemented by desorption which is endothermic. This cycle has the potential to be used for physical thermal energy storage in which the heat can be stored for an indefinite period of time without deterioration. The ultimate application for this technology is to store solar radiation harvested from solar concentrators and use the charged adsorbent beds as a clean renewable source of heating for commercial and residential use. An adsorbent storage system has been designed, built and tested at the University of Ottawa. The system has proven that thermal energy can be stored and released from the adsorbent beds and that saturated beds can be regenerated and used again. The study has focused on the screening of adsorbents (such as Zeolite 13X and Silica gel) to determine the optimal working pair for thermal energy storage, the conditions for an optimal regeneration cycle, as well as the optimal flow rate, humidity and regeneration parameters to extract the maximum amount of heat from the adsorbent beds.