Battery storage has revolutionized the energy sector, creating major opportunities for utility scale renewable projects as well as residential renewable energy resources.
Utility Scale Battery Storage
Battery storage pairs well with utility scale solar and wind energy. Batteries paired with renewable projects can charge during the day (solar) and at night (wind). They can subsequently be discharged in the early evening and morning hours when electric demand is on the rise.
Battery storage also makes wind and solar power generation “dispatchable.” For example, fossil gas plants are considered dispatchable because they can be turned off and on exactly when needed. Solar panels and wind turbines can be more flexible with the proper technology, but generally run without interruption when the sun shines and the wind blows. Storing electricity generated by renewable sources makes them dispatchable because the batteries can be discharged when needed. Battery storage will move us substantially towards reaching the goal of an electric system powered by 100% renewables.
Most utility-scale solar facilities are now paired with batteries, which makes them more economical and allows them to assist with electric system reliability. As costs drop – by some estimates, 50% by 2030 – these “hybrid systems” will increasingly displace coal and fossil gas plants.
Battery storage for homes and businesses
Batteries combined with solar in homes and businesses are also becoming more popular and adoption is expected to accelerate. Nearly 4% of US households have installed solar arrays. This is called distributed or decentralized power, as the solar systems are distributed over many thousands of households, compared to centralized power plants (like large coal and gas plants).
A distributed electric system provides for much greater system resiliency than heavy reliance on utility-scale resources and can contribute substantially to greater affordability of electric bills – as well as displacing climate change-inducing fossil fuels. Distributed, residential solar and battery installations are also being coordinated to form what is called “virtual power plants,” where customers are paid for the use of their systems. These are web-based systems that can dispatch batteries for use in the electric system or for powering homes to help maintain system reliability, as during the summer when electric demand is very high and air conditioners are cranking.
An increasing share of electric vehicles on the road (mobile batteries) will not only add to electric demand, but also contribute to providing electric system stability – using as well as discharging electricity into the local distribution system. For instance, fully electric Ford F-150 pickup owners were able to use the batteries in their vehicles to keep the lights on in their homes during the hurricane-caused blackouts in Florida in November 2022. This is referred to as “ride-through” capability.
