An overview of phase change materials and their implication on power demand

Latent heat storage systems involving phase change materials (PCMs) are becoming more and more attractive for space heating and cooling in buildings, solar applications, off-peak energy storage, and heat exchanger improvements. This paper presents an introduction to previous works on thermal energy storage with respect to these applications. It focuses mostly on applications involving a reduction of electric power consumption. It is therefore more likely to be appreciated by those who would like an introduction to the topic rather than pin-point information on novel aspect of the subject.