Project description
Innovative seasonal energy storage system on the path to commercialisation
The aim of the EU-funded Powerbox project is to commercialise the innovative energy storage solution developed by Solenco. Solenco Powerbox allows homes and businesses to cheaply store their own generated energy, for hours or whole seasons, with over 90 % conversion efficiency. The system combines an electrolyser and a fuel cell in one unit which transform electricity into hydrogen, store it indefinitely and then convert hydrogen back into electricity and heat with minimal losses. Heat output takes the form of hot water at a rated temperature of 80 °C. The system has zero-carbon footprint and works anywhere, allowing homes and businesses to be heated and powered with intermittent energy sources and even feed excess power into city grids.
Objective
The hydrogen-based Solenco Powerbox allows solar or wind power to be privately stored for hours or months, allowing 24 hour, year-round renewable electric power and heat, independent of the power grid. Powerbox allows every home and business to cheaply store their own generated energy, with over 90% conversion efficiency, electric and heat storage.
The Solenco Powerbox is a heavily-patented combination of an electrolyzer and a fuel cell in one unit. It transforms electricity into hydrogen, stores it indefinitely, then converts hydrogen back into electricity and/or heat, at minimal loss. Heat comes out as hot water at a rated temperature of 80°C.
Unlike battery storage, the Powerbox stores heat as well as electricity. There is no degradation of conversion capacity over time – its working lifetime is over 30 years. Unlike natural gas storage, there is no need to draw on local underground storage capacity. Unlike hydroelectric power storage, there is no need for local mountains or lakes to be available. Unlike chemical storage, there is no hazardous storage, transport or disposal concern.
Our method has zero carbon footprint and works anywhere, allowing homes and businesses to be heated and powered with intermittent solar and/or wind storage and even to feed excess power into local city grids as needed.
Solenco will be powerful to commercialize, since it has comparable cost to existing inferior solutions, and has the fastest return on investment (<3 years) of any storage solution on the market. Powerbox is targeted at the EU-28 residential renewable energy market of €33.6B (2016), which continues to grow rapidly. Our founder has created hundreds of energy jobs in Europe.
Solenco won the Hansa Green Tour Startup Challenge in 2018 and will earn 530,000 Euros in 2019.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology mechanical engineering thermodynamic engineering heat engineering
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels fossil energy natural gas
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels renewable energy wind energy
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electrical engineering power engineering electric power transmission
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels renewable energy hydroelectricity
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
-
H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme -
H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
See all projects funded under this programme -
H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
See all projects funded under this programme
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2300 Turnhout
Belgium
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.