Storing wind and solar with new gravity-based system
Scottish start-up Gravitricity is planning a project to store surplus power from renewables at Port of Leith. A 250 kW, grid-connected prototype facility will have its ability to stabilize the network tested. The system involves a 50-foot rig over a 500 to 5,000 foot shaft.
Solar industry CEOs weigh-in on positive trends in Covid-impacted quarterly results
“We’ve taken how the industry would have evolved – probably in two years – and we’ve done it in a month.” — Lynn Jurich, CEO of Sunrun
Overbuilding solar at up to 4 times peak load yields a least-cost all-renewables grid
The global energy firm Wartsila found a least-cost renewables mix for the U.S. that involves overbuilding renewable capacity, but requires no seasonal storage, and needs only four to ten days of multi-day storage capacity. The analysis modeled meeting current uses of electricity, based on projected technology costs for 2030.
The challenges and tricks of adding battery storage to existing solar projects
Alencon Systems teamed up with Duke Energy to look at some of the challenges faced by a utility when adding a battery storage system to an existing solar installation. DC-coupled or AC-coupled? Grounding scheme?
Span wins $10.2 million to modernize the home electrical panel, ease shift to solar, storage and EVs
“The standard electrical panel has not seen major innovation for nearly a century.”
Morning Brief: a massive battery ready to break ground, Vectren looks to cut net metering
Also in the brief: expanding a community solar pilot in San Antonio and how to guarantee a just energy transition for indigenous communities.
Morning Brief: Tesla looks to revive solar business with ‘Solar Price Match Guarantee’
Also in the brief: Developers pitch 16 GW of solar in coal-fueled Indiana, solar co-ops launch to help Ohioans go solar, plus green hydrogen as post-pandemic energy choice.
Lithium-ion storage is here to stay with no ‘post Li-ion’ era in sight
A German-Israeli research group has gathered to discuss which storage technologies may outperform lithium-ion batteries in the future. They concluded that there is no such a thing as a “post Li‐ion” era in sight. They recommended a “side‐by‐side” approach for multiple technologies in different applications, as well as the hybridization of technologies.
Distributed storage could save Texas $344 million per year by deferring transmission and distribution costs
Adding enough distributed storage to reduce peak demand by 20% could defer up to one-fifth of the transmission and distribution expenditures in Texas for about 10 years, a study found. Other states may find the study’s analytical insights to be useful.
Form Energy claims its aqueous air battery provides 150-hour duration storage
The holy grail of energy storage has always been low-cost and long-duration. Form Energy intends on deploying a 1 MW/150 MWh system with a Minnesota utility before 2023, an unprecedented energy storage duration if successful.
