The ice tank idea is good for a water chiller setup. You would have refrigerant lines running through the tank to freeze the water and a glycol loop running an air cooling rig indoors. With a residential scale system, the biggest concern is insulating the ice tank. The main purpose of the ice tank is to level the cooling load and minimize the compressor capacity required. If the ice tank is not super insulated, heat leaks in and wreaks havoc on your efficiency.
This is a different approach than most ground source units employ. Rather than trying to freeze the cold side, most ground source systems attempt to keep the suction pressure high to lower the compression ratio. The higher the compression ratio, the more work (electrical power) required to move the same mass of refrigerant. So the two strategies are at odds with each other.
The main deciding factor in choosing which method to implement is the peak power required to satisfy the load. Either way, something is going to be massive. Either you have a massive underground loop or a well and a larger compressor that can supply the peak load, or you have a smaller compressor and a massive insulated cold store.
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