Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 18

Heating Buildings
with Solar Energy
Stored in Sand
A
s we try to objectively study
nature, we are often reminded
of how natural forces affect
us personally. We can sit
at a desk and consider heat in its various
forms, but we might be distracted
if our toes are cold. When we turn up
the heat in our homes and workplaces,
we must balance our personal need
for warmth with the global impact of
burning fossil fuels like oil, gas, coal,
and biomass. Anthropogenic climate
change confronts humanity with a
challenge: How can we keep warm now
as we try to prevent our world from
overheating in the future?
It is a daunting question that a startup
called Polar Night Energy, in the
small and chilly nation of Finland, is
attempting to answer. In a region
known for long, dark winter nights, Polar
Night Energy is building a system in
the city of Tampere that can heat buildings
with stored solar energy - all day,
all night, and all winter long. The apparent
contradictions do not end
there. In an era of complex cleantech
solutions, often made from rare and
expensive materials, Polar Night Energy's
heat storage and distribution system
consists of simple ducts, pumps,
valves, and sand. The novel system
18
shows potential for tackling global
problems in a patient, thoughtful, and
human-scaled way.
A Small Country with Large
Heating Needs
Big problems demand big solutions,
and there is perhaps no bigger 21st-century
problem than climate change. To
meet this challenge, many governments
and organizations are investing in new
technology to help lessen the use of fossil
fuels. These initiatives have largely
focused on renewable electric power
generation, distribution, and storage.
" When you ask people about cleaner
energy, they think of electricity, " said
Tommi Eronen, CEO of Polar Night Energy.
" But we also have to cut emissions
from heating. " Out of Finland's energy-related
emissions, 82 percent come
from heating domestic buildings.1 " We
want to replace all of that if we are to
have any hope of meeting our global climate
goals, " Eronen said.
Think Globally, Heat Locally
The spirit of " Think Globally, Act Locally, "
a mantra associated with the
1960s, lives on with Polar Night Energy's
team of innovators. Their journey began
with a question posed by its founders,
www.techbriefs.com
Tommi Eronen and Markku Ylönen,
when they were university classmates: " Is
it possible to build an energy-self-sufficient
and cost-effective hippie commune
for engineers using only solar power? "
After graduation, the project they codenamed
" Hippie Commune " became Polar
Night Energy, with Eronen as CEO
and Ylönen as CTO.
What began as a lighthearted (but serious)
student project led to a 3 MWh/100
kW pilot plant in the Finnish city of TamTech
Briefs, June 2024
ElenaNoeva/shutterstock

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Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024

Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - Intro
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - Sponsor
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - Band1
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - Band2
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - Cover1
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - Cover2
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 1
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 2
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 3
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 4
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 5
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 6
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 7
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 8
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 9
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 10
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 11
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 12
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 13
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 14
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 15
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 16
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 17
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 18
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 19
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 20
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 21
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 22
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 23
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 24
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 25
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 26
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 27
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 28
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 29
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 30
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 31
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 32
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 33
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 34
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 35
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 36
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 37
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 38
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 39
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 40
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 41
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 42
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 43
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 44
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 45
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 46
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 47
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - 48
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - Cover3
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - Cover4
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MDCover1
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MDCover2
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD1
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD2
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD3
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD4
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD5
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD6
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD7
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD8
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD8A
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD8B
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD8C
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD8D
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD9
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD10
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD11
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD12
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD13
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD14
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD15
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD16
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD17
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD18
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD19
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD20
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD21
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD22
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD23
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MD24
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MDCover3
Tech Briefs Magazine - June 2024 - MDCover4
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