battery – California Climate and Energy Collaborative

Could zinc-air batteries usher in a new era of solar power?

October 5, 2018

“One of the reasons why mass deployment of solar power still remains a distant goal is that most solar panels use lithium-ion batteries, which are expensive, harmful to the environment, and come with the added risk of fires and explosions due to overheating. For the first time, a safer, cheaper, and more durable alternative to…

The time has come for battery net metering

April 13, 2018

Sarina Soor

batteries, battery, energy storage

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“Utilities understandably don’t want to pay net-metering rates for batteries charged by grid power. So far, that means solar generation stored in batteries for later use doesn’t earn net metering dollars either. That could change, once the California Public Utilities Commission responds to a petition that, unusually, drew support from both the solar industry and…

GE aims to enhance solar, wind power performance with new storage platform

March 9, 2018

Sarina Soor

battery, Reservoir, solar, wind

“GE is stepping up its storage game with the announcement of Reservoir, an energy storage platform aimed at applications that could help enhance the performance and duration of solar and wind power plants, as well as relieving congestion on the grid, for instance, by deferring the need for a new substation. The Reservoir announcement comes amidst…

FERC Opens US Wholesale Energy Markets To Battery and Electric Storage

February 28, 2018

Sarina Soor

battery, battery storage, electric storage, storage systems

“Under the new rule: Participating storage must be eligible to provide all capacity, energy, and ancillary services that it is technically capable of providing. The participation model must ensure that storage systems in it can be dispatched, and can set the wholesale market clearing price as both a seller and buyer consistent with existing market…

Valuing the Resilience Provided by Solar and Battery Energy Storage Systems

February 28, 2018

Sarina Soor

battery, energy storage, resilience, resiliency, solar, storage, storage systems, study

“Researchers from NREL and Clean Energy Group found that placing a monetary value on the ability of solar+storage to avoid losses during grid outages can significantly impact project economics and system design. Using data from Southern California Edison, researchers analyzed the economic case for solar+storage for three customer types (school, office building, and hotel) in…

Tesla is installing Powerwalls and solar power on 50,000 homes to create biggest virtual power plant in the world

February 9, 2018

Sarina Soor

battery, battery storage, power walls, powerwalls, tesla, virtual power

“The new project announced today is using Tesla’s residential battery system, the Powerwall, to create decentralized energy storage, which basically results in creating a massive virtual power plant. The 50,000 homes in the state will be fitted with 5 kW solar arrays and 13.5 kWh Tesla Powerwall 2 battery systems It will result in at…