Houses and office buildings are producing more energy than the amount of energy they consume such is TNO’s ambition, in order to meet national and international climate agreements. The Energy Agreement is about having an energy-neutral environment by the year 2050. But TNO is raising the bar: buildings delivering energy. To this end, TNO has teamed up with national and international parties, and will be actively involved at three levels: maximising the process of energy generation, optimising storage and minimising energy consumption. Storage is one of the main technological challenges. In a European consortium of large and small businesses, universities and knowledge institutions, TNO has been the first in the world to realise a prototype operational system based on salt hydrates: the heat battery. With this system, one is able to store heat generated during the summer using solar thermal collectors, without thermal losses. In the winter season, it is used for heating purposes and also for hot tap water.
