Batteries

In past years, the costs associated with residential PV solar systems have been left up to the imagination of the companies installing the systems.  The parameters of this industry’s guessing game are about to change according to a recent report from the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).  The NREL has decided to team up… Keep reading →

A new company is coming in hot with their energy storage technology, dependent on 900 degree Fahrenheit molten metals.  Ambri has developed a battery storage system that is relatively simple, developing reliable power and displaying rechargeable capabilities. This “hot” ticket item has caught the attention of some major, noteworthy investors including Bill Gates, Total, a… Keep reading →

California Faces Continued Energy Woes

A new study cites gigawatt-hours’ worth of opportunity in customer energy flexibility, but little opportunity for old-school load shedding. California has gigawatt-hours of grid-balancing available in homes, offices, factories and farms that can “shape” and “shift” their energy usage, and a smaller but still valuable market for fast-responding “shimmy” resources. But it has very little… Keep reading →

General Images Of Electric Vehicle Recharging And Battery Changing Station In Beijing

California utility issues RFP for plug-and-play storage systems to fill broader range of grid needs  Someday, grid batteries will come in standard packages, ready to be plugged in as fast as utilities can find places and use cases for them. At least, that’s how utility Southern California Edison would like its next round of energy… Keep reading →

Casio Introduces World's Smallest Fuel Cell

Duke Energy’s decision to replace 36 MW of Xtreme lead-acid batteries shows the risks of backing emerging storage tech.  Utilities are leery of new battery technologies, no matter how groundbreaking they seem. That’s because they sometimes don’t perform as promised, and fixing that problem can turn out to be an expensive proposition. Last week, Duke… Keep reading →

california

A groundbreaking, just-filed blueprint to bring distributed solar, batteries, EVs and more into billion-dollar grid investment plans.  Two years ago, California told its three big investor-owned utilities to do something they’ve never done before — make distributed energy resources (DERs for short) a fundamental part of their billion-dollar distribution grid investment plans. Under state law… Keep reading →

tesla gigafactory

Tesla’s Elon Musk wowed the world with batteries for home and business energy storage late last month, but let’s not forget the guy is in the electric car business. Lux Research hasn’t forgotten. The Boston-based agency, pimping a new report on lithium-ion battery trends, said Panasonic and Tesla’s joint battery technology, brought to large-scale production at the… Keep reading →

General Images Of Electric Vehicle Recharging And Battery Changing Station In Beijing

Japanese giant could help startup compete with Stem, Tesla, others in burgeoning energy storage market.  GTM Research predicts that behind-the-meter batteries could expand to make up nearly half of the rapidly growing U.S. energy storage market by decade’s end — and there’s also great potential for international growth in solar-rich and energy-constrained countries like Germany… Keep reading →

Ford Electric Car Plant Builds Electric Focus And Hybrid Vehicles

A California public utility has brought the largest battery energy storage in North America online. Funded partially by federal stimulus funds, Southern California Edison’s Tehachapi Wind Energy Storage Project is designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of large-scale battery storage systems.

Southern California Edison Company is the largest electricity supply company in Southern California. As part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the utility won funding to develop a major battery energy storage system (or BESS). The Tehachapi Wind Energy Storage project consists of an array of lithium-ion batteries capable of storing 32 megawatt-hours, deliverable as an 8 megawatt stream of energy for 4 hours. The LG Chem batteries rely on the same lithium-ion cells installed in battery packs for General Motors’ Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle, and feature 608,832 individual battery cells arrayed in 10,872 battery modules and 604 battery racks. Along with two 4MW/4.5MVA smart inverters, the project will be housed in a 6,300 square foot facility sited at SCE’s existing Monolith substation.

battery-glow

For more than 100 years, the U.S. power system relied on fossil-fueled power plants to meet our growing energy demand. Now, clean energy resources like renewables are quickly changing our energy mix. But what happens when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing? What about when power demand momentarily outpaces supply? That’s where… Keep reading →

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