Frequently Asked Questions

Why store electricity?

Renewable generators produce electricity on an intermittent basis, requiring backup generation in networks for periods when wind or sun are not available. Batteries store electricity but are expensive at large scale and their efficiency declines each time they are used. Our Thermal Energy Storage System (TESS) provides a low cost energy store that can be ‘charged’ and electricity regenerated at the very high rates needed for grid scale operators.

Is this technology suitable for individual homes?

No, the scale is better suited to entire neighbourhoods of 250 homes and above.

Is it a battery?

No, this system is a thermal energy store, not a battery.

How is efficiency measured?

The overall CHP or cogeneration efficiency is measured as the energy charged into the system over the sum of the electrical energy and useful heat produced. Electrical efficiency is measured as the energy charged into the system over the electrical energy produced.

What is CHP?

CHP – Combined Heat and Power. CHP is used to describe the generation of electricity and heat from a single energy source.
We offer a unique high efficiency CHP solution by providing a combined electrical and industrial heat output.

What is the efficiency of a TESS?

The efficiency of the TESS is described as Combined Heat and Power (CHP).

The efficiencies of the  industrial TESS modules will be dependent on the application, with units capable of 15 – 40% electrical and the balance as heat up to 90% depending on the thermal energy requirements. Energy usage in industrial sites reportedly averages 33% electrical and 66% heat in the form of steam or water.

The TESS-GRID devices will aim for the 57% electrical efficiency of advanced power stations, and will be colocated where possible with heat consumers, such as greenhouse food producers or process industries, for CHP efficiencies of up to 90%.

The prototype built in 2016 has achieved  an 80% CHP efficiency and electrical efficiency of 31% of the energy recovery device.

How long can energy be stored?

Standard insulation allows for heat to be stored for a week. Additional insulation can extend this time, but would increase the unit cost. The TESS is designed to cycle daily, hence losses over time are not a significant driver.

Why is the heat output included in efficiency of a TESS?

A major use of electricity is producing heat for processes including, hot water, central heating and industry. The TESS can supply useful clean heat or steam for these processes without the need to convert back to electricity.

What is the efficiency of a battery?

Typical battery efficiencies are around 80%. i.e. when storing 100 units, 80 units are able to be recovered. The remaining 20% being lost as low grade heat, this can be experienced when your phone gets hot during charging. Unlike the TESS, battery efficiency decreases with each charge and discharge cycle.

What is sensible heat?

Sensible heat is the energy used to increase a materials temperature. Energy stored in rock or concrete, and graphite are examples of sensible heat storage. The efficiency of a sensible heat store decreases as it is used because the temperature decreases.

What is latent heat?

Latent heat is the energy used to change a materials phase, i.e. boiling liquid water into steam. The efficiency of a latent heat store remains constant because the temperature is constant.

What is a heat engine?

A heat engine is the general term used for any mechanical device which uses a source of heat to produce electricity, such as a gas turbine, steam turbine or Stirling engine.

What is thermal energy storage?

Thermal energy storage is simply the storage of energy as heat, this can be observed in its simplest form as an insulated hot water tank.

Read more about the development of 1414 Degrees thermal energy storage system (TESS) here.

What are the different types of thermal energy storage?

Sensible storage: energy is stored by heating a storage medium and maintaining its state in solid or liquid form. Energy is released and recovered by cooling the storage medium. This type of energy storage is ‘sensible’ because the heating and cooling can be sensed as a temperature change in the storage medium. Typical sensible storage media are: water, air, oil, rocks, brine (and other molten salts), concrete, sand or soil.

Phase change storage: energy is stored by heating a storage medium through its transition from solid to liquid, or from liquid to gas.  Energy is released and recovered by extracting heat from the storage medium. Phase change storage, often also called ‘latent heat’ storage is latent, or hidden, because the storage material’s temperature does not change throughout the phase change. These storage materials include water/ice, paraffin, molten salts, metallic elements (e.g. silicon) and alloys.   

Thermochemical storage: a thermochemical storage material absorbs energy in the form of heat, and splits into two physically separable chemical compounds. The recombination of these two compounds into the thermochemical storage material releases heat for energy recovery. Salt hydrates are the primary example of this energy storage technology.  

Is the TESS clean?

Yes, unlike with conventional heat engines, the TESS does not produce any exhaust gasses, as there is no combustion involved. The silicon is also non-toxic and completely recyclable.

Can the TESS store any type of heat?

The high melting point of silicon is greater than what is achievable with typical heat sources, for example low grade exhaust heat cannot be stored directly but could be integrated depending on the site requirements.

How do you heat the silicon?

Electricity or burning gas (biogas or natural gas) passes through high temperature elements (like a cooktop) which heat the silicon.

What is the difference between a TESS and a battery?

A battery stores electro-chemical energy while the TESS stores thermal energy i.e. heat.

How long will it last? (system lifetime)

The TESS is designed to have a service life of over 20 years. After which the majority of the components may be recycled into new units. The silicon does not degrade.

As it operates at a constant temperature there is little degradation of the internal components. This is contrary to batteries where the efficiency degrades with each cycle, requiring full replacement after the useful lifetime.

Does it matter where the TESS is positioned?

No, the TESS is flexible and may be positioned anywhere on the grid, off the grid, or “behind the meter” on site. This makes it particularly efficient because it can be placed where the clean heat can be used.

How long does it take to “charge”?

This is specific to each installation and the power available to charge. Generally, this time may be 1 to 8 hours.

How long does it take to “discharge”?

This is specific to each installation and the rate that energy is recovered. A typical installation would have 4 to 10 hours of storage for the rated output.

How big is a TESS unit?

The mid-scale TESS-IND unit (10MWh) is approximately the size of a standard 40 foot shipping container. The larger TESS-GRID module will be the size of a 2 story building.

Doesn’t the gas turbine burn fuel?

A gas turbine runs with hot gas, in our case this is air. In conventional gas turbines fuel is burnt to produce the hot gas.

What power output can it produce?

The modular nature of the TESS allows multiple units to be “stacked” together to provide the energy output required. Current plans are to provide from 100kW to 100 MW electrical output but there is no upper limit.

Is it patented?

1414 Degrees owns patents granted in the US, China, New Zealand and Australia. Further patents are pending in these and other jurisdictions related to its heat store technology. We have an IP strategy to add to these patents based on recently completed R&D.

Is it safe?

Yes, the TESS is safe and has been designed to ensure safety in the unlikely event of a failure.

What is biogas?

Biogas is produced when organic material, including human waste, agricultural waste, manure, plant material or food processing waste, is broken down in an anaerobic (oxygen free) environment with the help of bacteria.

The process is energy-efficient and environmentally friendly. It’s also versatile: biogas can be used instead of conventional fuels for heat and power, and even for running vehicles.

Biogas is a highly economical source of renewable energy, and it’s also a fantastic source of heat. It is difficult to store biogas in any meaningful quantity so it is used as it’s produced, which is not necessarily when it is most advantageous to do so.

1414 Degrees’ GAS-TESS technology seeks to solve this issue, as it burns the biogas and stores the energy, eliminating the need for the biogas to be flared and wasted or immediately used in gas engines to generate electricity.

What are the environmental benefits of GAS-TESS?

Globally there are significant agriculture and food processing industries, producing organic waste from factories, livestock farms (particularly dairies), wineries, grain and vegetable producers with the potential to generate significant quantities of biogas. Harnessing the heating potential of biogas has the potential to reduce the demand of fossils fuels and hence reduce carbon emissions.

What is molten silicon energy storage?

A molten silicon energy storage system harnesses energy produced from renewables or from the grid, to heat silicon. The molten silicon is stored at constant temperature and then used to dispatch heat and electric power on demand.

An overview of the 1414 Degree molten energy storage technology is provided here, 1414 Degrees kicks off molten silicon storage project in Australia; an article by Energy Storage News.

Silicon is inexpensive and plentiful in the natural environment. This makes molten silicon energy storage a cheaper and more environmentally friendly energy storage solution.

Renew Economy provides an overview of 1414 Degrees molten silicon energy storage system in the article ‘1414 Degrees’ molten silicon biogas energy storage system set for trial in SA.’

Why use silicon?

Silicon has extremely high energy density due to the latent heat properties. The high melting point also allows for high efficiency energy recovery. Silicon is also abundantly available, ensuring the technology is sustainable and affordable. It is also non-toxic and completely recyclable.

What is silicon?

Silicon is a natural chemical element (atomic number 14). It is the second most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, primarily found as a major component of common sand. Silicon like that used in the TESS is commonly used for electronic circuits. In the TESS however silicon is kept in molten form as the energy storage material.

What is the difference between silicone and silicon and silica?

Silicon is a naturally occurring element, silica is also known as silicon dioxide, the most common component of sand, and silicone is a synthetic substance.

Silicon is the 14th element on the periodic table with the symbol Si and is a metalloid. Metalloids have the properties of both metals and non-metals. Silicon is the second most abundant element in the earth. Elemental silicon is a semiconductor of electricity. Silicon has a high melting point, 1414 degrees Celsius, and this combined with high latent heat properties give it excellent energy storage density making it ideal for thermal energy storage.  The higher temperature enables much higher efficiencies during the reclaim of the heat to either electricity, heat or both.

Silica is an oxide of silicon and comes in many mineral forms, such as quartz,  flint, jasper and opal. As silica, silicon is a key ingredient in bricks, concrete and glass.

Silicone, is synthetic polymer made up of silicon, oxygen and other elements, most typically carbon and hydrogen. Silicone is generally a liquid or a flexible, rubberlike plastic, and has a number of useful properties, such as low toxicity and high heat resistance. Silicone is present everywhere in our modern day lives – in healthcare it is present in catheters and contact lenses; in our bathrooms you can find silicone in shampoos and shaving cream; and due to its high heat resistance, silicone makes up a lot of kitchenware, such as oven mitts, tongs and pan handles; silicone’s non-stick properties also make it useful for cookware coatings.

At 1414 Degrees our patented thermal energy storage systems (TESS) store energy as latent heat in molten silicon. The use of an abundantly available material ensures its sustainability and its affordability.

Is silicone the same as silicon?

Silicone is an artificial substance derived from silicon and other chemicals. A rubber-like material it is typically used in sealants, adhesives, lubricants, medicine, cooking utensils, and thermal and electrical insulation.

Does 1414 Degrees use a silicon battery?

No, our system uses silicon for thermal energy storage, not as a battery. Silicon is heated to its melting point, 1414 degrees Celsius, and the heat generated is then harnessed to create electrical energy. Our system does not involve the use of a silicon battery.

Further information can be found in the article, Silicon will blow lithium batteries out of water, says Adelaide firm.

Why does the silicon have to be melted?

To utilise the high latent heat properties which provides excellent energy storage density.

Is silicon toxic?

No, silicon is non-toxic.

Can the molten silicon “leak” out?

No, there is no risk of the silicon leaking out. The silicon is held within specially designed containers which are stable at high temperatures. Even if the containers were to fail, thick layers of insulation prevent the silicon from escaping the unit.

How does silicon compare with molten salts?

Silicon has a much greater energy density than molten salts, as much as 2-5 times the energy storage capacity. Additionally, the high melting point increases the energy recovery efficiency.

What is a Stirling engine?

A type of piston engine which is externally heated. An internal working fluid is heated and moves between two pistons, the movement of the pistons generating electricity.

What is a steam turbine?

A steam turbine is similar to a gas turbine, rather than a hot gas steam is instead used as the working fluid.

What is a gas turbine?

A gas turbine is a type of heat engine which uses a hot pressurised gas to spin a turbine (fan blade) to produce electricity.

Doesn't the gas turbine burn fuel?

A gas turbine can operate using any hot gas including air. The TESS produces very hot air at a high temperature so it does not need a fuel such as gas.

What is pumped hydro storage?

Pumped hydro storage is the most common form of large-scale energy storage. Water is pumped to a higher reservoir or dam when power is available. When power is needed the water is allowed to flow back down, spinning a turbine in the process. It works most economically at large scale sites because of the requirements for dams which in turn have environmental issues.

What is compressed air energy storage (CAES)?

CAES is a commercially used form of large-scale energy storage. Air is compressed and stored in large underground caverns or tanks. When power is needed the air is allowed to escape, spinning a turbine in the process. The process produces heat, but not in useful form like the TESS.

How is wastewater treated?

Wastewater is used water, which is treated to remove contaminants before it can be released back into the environment. The purpose of the treatment process is to remove suspended solids, whilst also ensuring the remaining water is free of disease and does not compromise the natural habitat of animal and plant life.

A naturally-occurring by-product of the anaerobic treatment process is a substance known as biogas. Biogas is energy-efficient and environmentally friendly, and can be used instead of conventional fuels for heat and power, and even for running vehicles.

1414 Degrees has developed GAS-TESS technology, which is able to safely burn untreated biogas and store the energy for use as it is needed.


Third Quarter 2019 Update

HIGHLIGHTS- First operating results of GAS-TESS confirmed efficient biogas burning. Modifications underway to increase electrical output - Data for business case to replace Glenelg engines to be provided to SA Water by end 2019 - Potential for early revenues from sale...

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14D Board Changes

1414 Degrees is pleased to advise that Mr Ian Little and Ms Penelope Bettison have been appointed as Directors of the Company. These appointments strengthen the Board at an important time in the Company’s development. The new Directors bring significant experience and...

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GAS-TESS Pilot Project Update

- GAS-TESS up and running after scheduled shutdown to assess O&M requirements- O&M a key factor in business case for wastewater treatment utilities- Improvements to be fast-tracked to provide SA Water with key data for evaluating business case- Proposed review...

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Chairman’s letter to shareholders

Dear fellow shareholders,  Over the last week, your Company has received some enquiries from shareholders about the performance of its share price and current market sentiment, so I would like to ensure you are fully informed.  There have been no substantial changes...

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Negative electricity prices and storage

- Intermittent negative electricity prices will not make energy storage economic- Energy Security Board looking at market redesign to favour firming generation as supplied by TESS After periods of negative electricity pricing in recent days some shareholders have...

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