Capstone: Thermal Storage Diagnostics
Hands-on: diagnose eight storage call-outs — sensible vs latent sizing, the cooling business case, the flat-tariff trap, stratification, standing losses, seasonal scale, charging schedules and PCM selection — then calculate, verify and prescribe the fix.
30 min read · Jacob Willis, Net Zero Lead
You've learned the difference between sensible and latent storage, how load shifting and demand-charge reduction create value, why stratification and insulation make or break a tank, and why seasonal storage only works at scale. This capstone sends you round a site as the storage engineer — sizing stores, building business cases, and spotting the projects that don't actually pay. The golden rule runs through every case: storage stores energy, not money. It earns only from a time value — a price spread, a demand charge, or avoided plant — and only if it's the right medium, well stratified, well insulated, and charged when energy is cheap. Engineer a perfect store against a flat tariff and you've saved nothing.