Solar energy produced “water battery” wins global award and saves 40% of university’s energy use

"Water Battery" and solar panels at the USC (USC website)

The University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), Queensland, Australia, wins an award at the 6th Global District Energy Climate Awards which was presented in Iceland in September 2019. The award was for their “water battery”, featuring 6,000+ solar panels and a thermal energy storage tank, that is cutting grid energy use at the Sunshine Coast campus by 40 percent.

The USC has a goal to become carbon neutral by 2025 and to operate sustainably. The Sunshine Coast campus uses a lot of electricity, so in order to achieve that goal they had to come up with a way to store energy without using chemical batteries which have a waste problem.

In collaboration with Veolia, the USC installed a massive rooftop solar system and built a thermal energy storage battery with a thermal chiller. When the sunshines (which is often in this location), solar energy powers the thermal chiller to cool water which is stored in a massive tank. The chilled water is used to air condition the entire campus.

Read more:
- Sunny approach to cooling campus wins global award. University of the Sunshine Coast, October 28, 2019.
- Clean Energy (How it Works): Sustainable USC, University of the Sunshine Coast.
- Sustainable USC, University of the Sunshine Coast.