A Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for the Selection of Thermal Energy Storage Materials in Concentrated Solar Power Applications
Ilham NAIT HIM, Mohamed Hassan KHALILI
Abstract. The choice of the best Thermal Energy Storage (TES) material is fundamental to the economic feasibility and the performance of the Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants. In this paper, a stringent multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is used on five different TES material types namely molten salts, phase change materials (PCMs), concrete, water, and synthetic oils. To create a composite performance index, it created a systematic assessment of the significant technical, economic, and environmental statistics, such as thermal properties, energy efficiency, heat retention, and lifecycle effects such as toxicity and CO2 emissions. In our analysis, we will find that there is no universal material that is better than the rest, which points to a complicated set of trade-offs. Water to be the most preferred material has a composite score of 0.88 based on its excellent thermal performance and environmental rating but is restricted by a small operating temperature range. Concrete is a moderate, economical solution (score: 0.52), whereas molten salt as the existing industry standard has a high-performance but environmentally demanding profile (score: 0.27). The study presents a multi-criteria radar chart along with the correlation matrix as the advanced visualizations that would allow the stakeholders to make decisions based on the specifics of the CSP project.
Keywords
Concentrated Solar Power (CSP), Thermal Energy Storage (TES), Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), Molten Salts, Phase Change Materials (PCMs), Sustainable Engineering
Published online 4/25/2026, 8 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Ilham NAIT HIM, Mohamed Hassan KHALILI, A Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis for the Selection of Thermal Energy Storage Materials in Concentrated Solar Power Applications, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 64, pp 706-713, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904091-88
The article was published as article 88 of the book Energy Futures
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
References
[1] “What’s the best size for a concentrated solar power plant?” [online] https://www.pacificgreen.com/articles/whats-best-size-concentrated-solar-power-plant/
[2] İ. Dinçer and M. A. Rosen, Thermal Energy Storage: Systems and Applications, 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley & Sons, 2010 https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470970751
[3] F. Alnaimat and Y. Rashid, “Thermal energy storage in solar power plants: A review of the materials, associated limitations, and proposed solutions,” Energies, vol. 12, no. 21, p. 4164, Oct. 2019 https://doi.org/10.3390/en12214164
[4] D. Jayathunga, H. Karunathilake, M. Narayana and S. Witharana, “Selection of phase change materials for high temperature latent heat thermal energy storage for concentrated solar power plants,” 2022 Moratuwa Engineering Research Conference (MERCon), Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, 2022, pp. 1-6 https://doi.org/10.1109/MERCon55799.2022.9906235
[5] A. E. Amer, K. Rahmani, and V. A. Lebedev, “Using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method for selection of phase change materials for solar energy storage applications,” Journal of Physics Conference Series, vol. 1614, no. 1, p. 012022, Aug. 2020 https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1614/1/012022
[6] A. G. Tsopgo, H. Teng, Q. Duan, and H. A. Zheng, “Probability-based multi-objective optimization framework for the selection of molten salts in thermal energy storage systems,” Composites Part B Engineering, vol. 312, p. 113298, Dec. 2025 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2025.113298
[7] H. M. Ali et al., “Advances in thermal energy storage: Fundamentals and applications,” Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, vol. 100, p. 101109, Sep. 2023 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecs.2023.101109
[8] A. Caraballo, S. Galán-Casado, Á. Caballero, and S. Serena, “Molten Salts for Sensible Thermal Energy Storage: A Review and an Energy Performance Analysis,” Energies, vol. 14, no. 4, p. 1197, Feb. 2021 https://doi.org/10.3390/en14041197.
[9] “Concentrating Solar Power, Electricity, 2022, ATB, NLR.” https://atb.nrel.gov/electricity/2022/concentrating_solar_power
[10] SolarPACES. (2024). Technical Report on Next-Generation TES Materials.
[11] X. Liu, Y. Zhong, J. Li, H. Wang, and M. Wang, “A review of High‐Temperature Molten Salt for Third‐Generation Concentrating Solar Power,” Energy Science & Engineering, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 456–474, Jan. 2025 https://doi.org/10.1002/ese3.2029
[12] S. Xiong, Y. Shi, C. Liu, and Y. Yang, “A photothermal energy storage phase change material with high stability and enthalpy,” RSC Advances, vol. 15, no. 21, pp. 17023–17030, Jan. 2025 https://doi.org/10.1039/d5ra01422k
[13] C. Liu, X. Zheng, H. Yang, W. Tang, G. Sang, and H. Cui, “Techno-economic evaluation of energy storage systems for concentrated solar power plants using the Monte Carlo method,” Applied Energy, vol. 352, p. 121983, Sep. 2023 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.121983
[14] H. Fakri and A. E. Fadar, “TES materials integrated in CSP plants: Research trends, challenges and 3E performance analysis,” Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells, vol. 293, p. 113861, Jul. 2025 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2025.113861
[15] Z. M. Al-Abri, K. M. Alawasa, R. S. Al-Abri, A. S. Al-Hinai, and A. S. A. Awad, “Multi-Criteria Decision-Making approach for optimal energy storage system selection and applications in Oman,” Energies, vol. 17, no. 20, p. 5197, Oct. 2024 https://doi.org/10.3390/en17205197
[16] M. Fang, L. Cao, F. Song, Y. Cong, and W. Li, “Thermal transport properties of composite phase change materials characterized by molten carbonate-ceramic date nucleus occupancy structure: A molecular dynamics study,” Journal of Molecular Liquids, vol. 391, p. 123260, Oct. 2023 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2023.123260
