In much of the discussion of renewables as part of the energy mix, the argument often focuses on the unreliable or intermittent nature of these different sources of energy. While at one stage it was true that renewables would not work as firm capacity, the landscape continues to change. With an increasing preponderance of
More batteries installed. More markets opening up. And grid storage making itself indispensable in unanticipated ways. For too long, the rhetoric around what storage can do for the grid vastly outweighed the actual doing. This year, the industry closed that gap more than ever before. Exceedingly few batteries actually live up to the vision
Electric car, home solar installation and an energy storage system that all complement each other. Fully Charged's Robert Llewellyn, a well known electric cars enthusiast, from the beginning was also very interested in the electrification of homes, which means own electricity generation using solar and storing the energy using batteries. In one of the
Energy storage is no longer an asset class that utilities can ignore. One of the biggest criticisms of renewable energy has been its inherently intermittent nature. Solar energy plants don't produce power at night, and wind turbines don't produce power without wind, so utilities need fossil-fuel or power plants to keep the grid running.
With Public Safety Power Shutoffs increasingly common in California to prevent the spread of wildfires, many are calling for more residential solar plus storage to help keep the lights on. The Californian wildfire season has been devastating, with some 53,354 acres burned according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. This autumn,
For a brief period a few days ago, Bordesholm in Germany became a showcase for how entire communities could switch over to renewable energy, with the backing of energy storage capacity. Solar inverter maker SMA’s devices, including its Sunny Central Storage battery inverter and SMA Hybrid Controller XL, were used in a trial whereby
Why batteries are essential to fighting climate change Solar and wind power are the glamorous twins of the clean-electricity revolution. It is thrilling to see a field of glistening panels absorbing the sun’s energy or a vast turbine twirling above the ocean. Stationary power storage does not have quite the same allure—think of a
R-UK report says 10.5GW of planning applications have been made for battery projects up from 6.9GW a year ago Over 10,500MW of battery storage planning applications have been made in the UK, compared with 6900MW a year ago, according to new research from RenewableUK (R-UK). The trade body's latest Project Intelligence report said that
Solar power is increasingly available around the clock as energy storage become more affordable. Todd Karin was prepared when California’s largest utility shut off power to millions of people to avoid the risk of wildfires last month. He’s got rooftop solar panels connected to a single Tesla Powerwall in his rural home near Fairfield,
It depends, experts say. Just expect to make a few sacrifices. Even by the standards of the generally well-informed clean-energy customers in California's Bay Area, Todd Karin is a savvy one. Karin works as a postdoctoral researcher in the energy storage and distributed resources division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Last year, he chose