An award-winning Australian solar-powered “water battery” has been lauded as a success with the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) revealing the system generated more than 3 GWh of electricity in its first 12 months of operation.
The thermal energy storage tank, located at USC’s main campus on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, is powered by a 2.1 MW solar PV system which produces enough energy to cool 4.5 megalitres of water, effectively acting as an 8 MW battery. The cooled water is stored and used for air conditioning, which is currently the single biggest user of electricity at the campus.
https://www.pv-magazine.com/2020/12/30/water-battery-a-winner-for-australian-university/