The application of regenerative ball technology in daily life can be traced back to ancient times. Since the 1930s, especially under the influence of the energy crisis in the 1970s, the basic theory and applied technology of regenerative spheres have risen rapidly and developed continuously in developed countries. Solar energy, material science, aerospace technology, engineering thermophysics, building air-conditioning, heating and ventilation, and industrial waste heat benefit have been developed rapidly. Mutual penetration and rapid development of application fields create conditions for research and application of heat storage. Regenerative sphere technology is a new energy technology to solve the contradiction between the supply and demand of heat energy in time and space. It is a new energy technology to improve energy efficiency. Its characteristic is that it can store temporarily unused or redundant heat energy through a certain medium and reuse it when needed.

Regenerative sphere thermal energy storage technology can be widely used in discontinuous energy systems, such as solar energy utilization system, wind power system and industrial waste heat system. Compared with developed countries, there is still a considerable gap in the theoretical and applied research of regenerative balls in China.