PV storage market to reap $19 billion by 2017

From US$200 million in 2012, the photovoltaic storage market is projected to be worth $19 billion in 2017, mainly driven by the German energy storage subsidy, reports IMS Research. While Germany is set to lead the residential sector, Asia and the Americas will dominate the utility-scale market.



From just $200 million in 2012, the U.K.-based research firm expects the photovoltaic storage market to be worth $19 billion in 2017. Meanwhile, it forecasts that global photovoltaic storage installations will, on average, boast over 100% annual growth for the next five years, to reach a cumulative capacity of nearly 7 GW.

Overall, Germany is expected to lead the residential and commercial sector; however, with an anticipated 2 GW by 2017, Asia and the Americas will dominate the utility-scale sector.

While Germany is forecast to install almost 2 GWh of effective storage capacity in its residential sector during the next 5 years, markets like the U.K., Italy, North America, Australia and other smaller European markets are set to account for the remaining around 3 GW of expected capacity by 2017, PV analyst Sam Wilkinson tells pv magazine.

IMS Research primarily attributes the anticipated rapid growth to Germany’s new incentive program, scheduled to come into effect on May 1. "Because domestic electricity rates now significantly exceed residential feed-in tariff rates, there is strong interest in increasing self-consumption in residential PV systems to maximize the financial return of the system," comments Wilkinson in a statement.

Wilkinson adds that 8 MW of photovoltaic systems with storage were installed in Germany last year. "The introduction of the widely anticipated subsidy will quickly accelerate uptake by making the lifetime cost of PV systems with storage cheaper compared to those without it."

According to IMS Research figures, the subsidy for a typical German household with a photovoltaic system including storage will bring electricity costs down to under $25,000 over a 20 year period, compared to just under $30,000 without it.

Specifically, the company calculates that the typical electricity costs for a German household with no photovoltaic system will be around $50,000 over a 20 year period; compared to just over $25,000 for a household kitted out with a 5kW photovoltaic system (inc. FITs at the current rate); just under $30,000 for a household with a 5kW photovoltaic system (inc. FITs at the current rate) with storage, but without a storage subsidy; and just under $25,000 for a household with a 5kW photovoltaic system (inc. FITs at the current rate), with storage and a storage subsidy.

As aforementioned, Germany is expected to be the dominant market player in the residential and commercial sector, and is likely to account for nearly 70% of all storage installed in residential photovoltaic systems in 2013. However, its leadership is set to be challenged by other regions as they develop opportunities.

"We do expect that other countries will follow Germany’s example and adopt similar subsidy schemes to promote the use of PV energy storage – particularly where there is a case for promoting self-consumption and grid stability," Wilkinson says.

"Even without subsidies though, storage can be an attractive proposition in conjunction with residential PV systems in some markets, such as the U.K., where the market is forecast to begin growing quickly in 2014, when the price of batteries is predicted to have fallen sufficiently to make PV storage financially viable."

Regarding utility-scale photovoltaic storage solutions, IMS Research forecasts that the market will add over 2 GW annually by 2017. Asia and the Americas are expected to lead the way.

"Storage is also predicted to be used in larger systems, in order to improve the integration of PV into the grid, increase the financial return of PV systems and meet the increasingly demanding connection requirements that some countries are imposing on intermittent electricity sources like PV," writes the company in the statement.

According to the "Grid Scale Battery Storage Market 2013-2023" study recently released by Global Information Inc. and Visiongain, demand for grid energy storage will reach $113.5 billion in 2017, up from $2.8 billion. "Representing close to a 5,694 percent increase in capacity, grid storage will reach 185.4 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of capacity compared to 3.2 GWh in 2012," says the report in a statement released.

Meanwhile, it says the global grid scale battery storage market is forecast to reach $1.17 billion in 2013.



Source: PV Magazine

Why Is Net Metering Under Attack?

The utilities’ net metering math doesn’t add up.

Customer-sited (or "rooftop") solar provides less than 0.01 percent of the U.S. energy supply -- but the market is growing rapidly, and as costs continue to decline, solar is reaching homeowners of all incomes. This is cause for alarm among utilities that have been providing electric service in essentially the same way for over a century.

A total of 5.9 gigawatts of PV is now in operation in the U.S. That’s more than 271,000 installations, many of which are on customers’ rooftops. GTM Research forecasted that 3.2 gigawatts of PV solar was installed nationwide in 2012, up from 1.9 gigawatts installed in 2011. If new solar capacity added in the fourth quarter of 2012 matches GTM Research predictions, solar PV will see a 70 percent increase in installation growth in 2012 compared with 2011.

Key to solar’s growth is an arrangement known as net metering. Currently in place in 43 states and the District of Columbia, net metering allows a solar customer’s electric meter to “spin backwards” when she generates more solar energy than she uses, ensuring fair credit for the clean power delivered to the grid.

But net metering is coming under increasing attack from utilities. Here’s our perspective on what’s really going on.

Utilities across the country are experiencing major shifts in the way customers use energy, and that’s making them nervous. Growth in electricity demand is slowing across the country: the U.S. Energy Information Administration projects electricity use will increase at the anemic rate of 0.7 percent per year through 2035 -- down from the usual 2 percent to 3 percent growth per year. Beyond a reduction in sales, utilities are worried about retaining customers as solar costs drop like a rock, a situation that could be further exacerbated now that cost-effective micro-storage is predicted to be only a few years away.

The writing is on the wall: clean and reliable rooftop solar, energy efficiency, and smart grid technologies are here to revolutionize the grid. But instead of looking to get ahead of these trends, many utilities are digging in and defending their business-as-usual approach. These utilities make a guaranteed rate of return on infrastructure, including power plants and transmission lines. As a result, utilities continue to invest in conventional dirty energy resources that may become obsolete well before the plants will be retired.

Some utilities are looking to slow the growth of rooftop solar by claiming that net metering shifts big costs onto non-solar ratepayers. In a recent one-sided article in Bloomberg, for example, the three big California utilities alleged net metering is costing non-solar ratepayers $1.3 billion, but gave no details on how they arrived at that staggeringly high number.

The fact is, the utilities’ net metering math doesn’t add up. The calculations inflate the cost side of the equation, while leaving a rather important piece out of the cost-benefit analysis: the benefits. By using fuzzy math to put net metering on trial in the press, these utilities hope to convince policymakers to put a halt to common-sense solar policies.

What’s needed is a rational dialogue among the stakeholders, and an accurate and comprehensive look at the economic impacts of net metering, considering all the costs and benefits. To that end, Vote Solar commissioned Crossborder Energy, a consulting firm, to conduct a new analysis for ratepayers of the three big California utilities. The results show that net metering actually provides a system-wide net financial benefit to non-solar ratepayers, not a cost as the utilities assert.

In total, the non-solar ratepayers of all three IOUs will save more as more net metered systems are installed, up to about $92 million per year once we reach the current 5 percent net metering cap.

Why are these numbers so different from the utility claims? Well, not only did Crossborder Energy analysts look accurately at the costs side of the ledger, but they also counted all the well-documented benefits that net-metered generation brings to the grid. Those benefits include avoiding the cost of purchasing expensive conventional plants and fuel, reducing the need for investments in wires, reducing the power lost over those wires, and avoiding costs associated with meeting carbon and renewable energy requirements.

Net Metering's benefits to the grid outweigh the lost revenue from net metering bill credits. It’s actually solar customers as a group that are subsidizing non-solar customers as a group.

For many utilities, rooftop solar represents a threat to traditional business models. But the people want it, the grid needs it, and it’s helping us take on some of our greatest challenges.

Utilities will have to adapt to a 21st-century energy landscape with new regulatory structures and initiatives, innovative business models, and modernized practices making way for ubiquitous distributed energy.


Graphic from Vote Solar (View fullsize here) 

Source: GreenTech Media , Susannah CHURCHILL

Saft presents smart Li-ion energy storage solutions for centralized and distributed PV systems

INTERSOLAR 2012


Munich, June 13,  2012  – Saft,  the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of high‐technology
batteries for industry, is presenting its broad portfolio of smart lithium-ion (Li-ion) energy storage
solutions at Intersolar 2012. Visitors to Booth 271 in Hall B3 can see how effective energy storage at
every level from megawatts (MW) to kilowatts (kW) offers important performance, reliability and Total
Cost of Ownership (TCO) benefits across the entire solar energy supply chain.

Saft is highlighting  three main applications for Li‐ion battery  energy storage systems that are now
commercially available: kilowatt scale solutions that maximize the value of distributed residential and
small commercial PV schemes; megawatt scale solutions that make large photovoltaic (PV) installations
predictable and grid compatible; modular solutions targeted at hybrid and off-grid PV systems.

Kilowatt scale energy storage boosts self-consumption in domestic PV systems 
Kilowatt scale energy storage can support the roll‐out of distributed residential and small commercial
renewable energy schemes through the effective time-shifting of power generated during peak
production times ‐ during the middle of the day for PV ‐ to the peak morning and evening demand
times. This both maximizes local consumption and enhances the value of the PV system as only surplus
energy is fed back into the grid.

For grid connected PV installations, which are mainly rooftop mounted, Saft offers the Synerion®  Li-ion
modules that provide around 2 kWh capacity in a compact package that combines high operational
reliability over thousands of variable charge/discharge cycles with outstanding energy efficiency. The
highly scalable Synerion® design, which is the only system with VDE safety certification, has already
proved its capability in the Sol-ion project that is currently introducing Li-ion batteries into PV systems
on the largest scale ever tested in Europe.

Visitors to the stand will see Saft’s latest 48 V Battery system comprising two Synerion® 24M modules
with battery management module (BMM) in a compact, stand-alone cabinet offering 4 kWh nominal
capacity. This and other Synerion® battery solutions will be commercially available in late summer 2012
as fully integrated building blocks within a variety of PV energy conversion systems marketed by Saft
partners.  Thus, Saft’s historical partner in Sol-ion project Voltwerk, a subsidiary of Bosch Power Tec
GmbH, announces roll-out of their VS5 Hybrid system for Q3 2012, expecting strong market demand in
Germany already this year. These systems have undergone thorough testing and qualification to ensure
optimum interfacing of the storage, conversion and PV production systems.

Megawatt scale energy storage makes PV predictable and grid compatible
Megawatt scale energy storage systems are ideally suited for medium to large scale on-grid solar
installations, where the effective implementation of state‐of‐the‐art Li‐ion technology can smooth the
intermittent generation and ramp rates inherent in renewable power sources, making PV predictable
and grid compatible.

For megawatt scale applications, Saft offers Intensium® Max, a ready‐to‐install containerized solution
that provides a complete, fully integrated energy storage system comprising Li‐ion battery modules,
power management and control interfaces, air conditioning and safety devices. Intensium Max is also
used in medium and low voltage grids to provide various grid support functions such as peak
management or voltage support.

New concepts for off-grid photovoltaic systems
Saft’s developing portfolio of storage solutions for off-grid solar power sites includes pioneering hybrid
power schemes in which a Li-ion energy storage system operates in conjunction with both PV panels
and diesel generators to ensure continuity of electrical power. This hybrid approach can enable the
runtime of a genset to be reduced to less than 6 hours a day, which results in significant savings in fuel
consumption (up to 75 percent) while also saving refueling and maintenance costs and reducing CO2
emissions.

For hybrid schemes, Saft has created the Evolion® 48 V Li-ion module that offers a unique combination
of float charging capability and high cycling performance. The Evolion® concept provides a long cycling
life, deep cycling capability, fast charging, high charge efficiency and high energy  density, while also
being totally maintenance‐free.



About Saft
Saft (Euronext: Saft) is a world leader in the design and manufacture of advanced technology batteries for
industry. The Group is the world’s leading manufacturer of nickel batteries and primary lithium batteries for
the industrial infrastructure and processes, transportation, civil and military electronics’ markets. Saft is the
world leader in space and defence batteries with its Li‐ion technologies which are also being deployed in the
energy storage, transportation and telecommunication markets. Saft’s 4,000 employees present in 19
countries, its 16 manufacturing sites and extensive sales network all contribute to accelerating the Group’s
growth for the future.

Source: Saft Batteries