How to store and use summer heat in winter

[hunter]

Winter heating is energy-intensive, but it is possible to save up warmth over summer and release it over winter.

Several seasonal heat storage systems are already in use.

In Marstal, Denmark, for example, a large, covered reservoir is heated with solar thermal collectors in summer. In winter, the reservoir produces enough warmth to cover half of the heating requirements of around 2,000 residents.

https://www.dw.com/en/sustainable-heating-how-to-store-and-use-summer-heat-in-winter/a-69116111

Solar for solar's sake. What's "possible" isn't always practical.

The thermodynamics, complexity, and cost of these schemes should be compared to modern heat pumps.

Curiously, the article itself mentions the use of heat pumps.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. "schemes"? nt

[John1956PA]

2. One definition of "scheme" is "the orderly arrangement of connecting parts."

Engineers use that word in that sense of its definition when writing technical documents. The word "schematic" derives from that definition.

[hunter]

3. To get the best solution to a problem you have to ask the right questions.

The question here is "How do we keep homes and businesses warm in the winter with minimal environmental impacts?"

The question is not "What do we do with excess solar power?"

Storing solar energy in the summer may be one possible answer but it might not be the answer with the smallest environmental footprint.