Nissan unveils the e-NV200 this week to journalists in Europe and releases a video shot in France

Shot in Nice and surroundings the in French Riviera, this new commercial mostly focuses on the commercial use of the e-NV200, including Taxi in its full window version

SolarCity Introduces DemandLogic - Energy Storage for Businesses

SolarCity Introduces Energy Storage for Businesses

SolarCity DemandLogic™ integrates intelligent management software and Tesla battery technology to reduce businesses’ peak demand, provide backup power during outages and potentially save thousands on energy costs

SAN MATEO, Calif., Dec. 4, 2013—SolarCity® (Nasdaq: SCTY) has unveiled a smart energy storage system to address two major pain points for business: rising utility demand charges and increasing grid outages. SolarCity DemandLogic™ can allow businesses to reduce energy costs by using stored electricity to reduce peak demand, and can also provide backup power during grid outages. Developed with advanced battery technology from Tesla, SolarCity DemandLogic storage includes learning software that automates the discharge of stored energy to optimize utility charge savings for customers.

“Utilities have altered their rate structures such that demand charges are rising faster than overall energy rates, and businesses are bearing the bulk of those increases,” said Peter Rive, SolarCity’s chief technology officer and chief operations officer. “Time is money, but so are control and predictability. Our storage systems can give businesses the tools to address all three—delivering immediate savings, protection against escalating demand charges and optional, grid-independent backup power in case of outages.”



SolarCity storage systems are available to new solar power customers through 10-year service agreements including monthly payments, with no upfront cost required. SolarCity will customize the system size to make it possible for businesses to save money immediately by saving more on energy costs than they spend for the storage service. Unlike load shifting approaches to demand management, this product requires no change in operations for the business and is fully automated. SolarCity DemandLogic can also power IT functions, security systems, cash registers and other critical business systems during power outages. SolarCity analyzes each organization’s energy usage to design a storage system that can offset peak load and support high priority backup functions.

“We are thrilled to leverage Tesla’s technology leadership in energy storage systems, charging and power electronics to enable this exciting SolarCity launch,” said Tesla CTO and co-founder JB Straubel. “The economics and scale that Tesla has achieved in the automotive market now make stationary energy storage more cost effective and reliable than it has ever been in the past. We expect this market to grow very rapidly now that we have crossed this economic threshold.”



Video Link for more details

The utility grid is aging and outages are increasing. The U.S. experienced 679 major weather-related power outages between 2003 – 2012, including 7 of the 10 costliest storms in American history. At the same time, while overall electricity usage in the U.S. has increased only modestly since 2001—approximately 10 percent according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration—utility revenues have increased more than 50 percent in the same time period.*

Utilities have increased revenues faster than electricity usage in part by creating “demand charges” for businesses that have increased their share of the utilities’ cost burden. Some utilities are basing rates less on the overall amount of electricity consumed, and more on “peak demand”, i.e. the maximum amount of electricity used at a specific point in time. Solar power can significantly offset the overall amount of electricity used by organizations, but if an organization’s “peak” electricity demand is still high during the day—in the late afternoon, for example—the organization can be hit with high demand charges. SolarCity’s commercial storage system regulates the amount of electricity that organizations need from the grid during “peak” periods, reducing exposure to exorbitant demand charges.

SolarCity storage systems will initially be available in areas of California serviced by Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison, areas of Massachusetts serviced by NSTAR, and areas of Connecticut served by Connecticut Light & Power. For questions or additional information about the program, business owners should contact SolarCity directly at 888-SOL-CITY or 888-765-2489, visit www.solarcity.com/demandlogic or email demandlogic@solarcity.com to schedule a free consultation.

Make sure you check out this page dedicated to DemandLogic on SolarCity's website

Media Contact:
Molly Canales
SolarCity
650-963-5674
press@solarcity.com


Source: SolarCity

SolarCity Launches Energy Storage for Business Using Tesla Battery Packs

Can SolarCity do for energy storage 

what it has done for solar power?

SolarCity is getting into the commercial energy storage business by installing and financing batteries and smart software behind the meter.

That could be good news for manufacturers, retailers, and other businesses or schools which can gain more control over their electricity bill. It's not such good news for smaller competitors such as Stem, Solar Grid Storage, Silent Power or Demand Energy. It's also a crash course in grid edge reality as consumers take a more active role in their energy usage and continue to challenge the traditional utility-customer dynamic.

SolarCity has already made a foray into residential solar combined with energy storage -- now it expects to build and finance 30 to 50 commercial solar-battery systems next year.

We spoke with Eric Carlson, Senior Director of Grid Systems Integration, along with SolarCity's Jonathan Bass. The duo noted "the software legacy" of SolarCity being combined with what Bass called "the world's most advanced battery pack" from Tesla Motors.

As with most commercial storage applications, the system addresses demand charge management, reduces peak demand, and provides emergency backup power. Energy storage could potentially integrate with utility demand response programs, engage in permanent load shifting, and cope with EV charging demands.

Hurricane Sandy changed the public's perceptions about grid reliability and disaster readiness: building owners are much more willing to pay for crucial services in the event of a power failure. They want to be able to pump water up to gravity feed tanks and run a service elevator for a few hours. A 200-kilowatt/2-hour battery can do that.

The commercial systems from SolarCity are provided with no upfront cost through a ten-year service agreement, along with lower energy costs from day one, according to the firm.

The system requires no behavioral or operational changes by the business and can power "IT functions, security systems, cash registers and other critical business systems during power outages," according to a statement. All systems are tied to a central operations center.

Peter Rive, SolarCity's CTO and COO, said, “Utilities have altered their rate structures such that demand charges are rising faster than overall energy rates, and businesses are bearing the bulk of those increases.” The company claims that its system "automates the discharge of stored energy to optimize utility charge savings for customers."

The commercial lithium-ion battery systems are sized according to the customer's usage patterns, with the smallest modular unit at the size of "a small refrigerator." The system can be installed indoors or outdoors and ranges from tens of kilowatts to hundreds of kilowatts with a minimum of two hours of duration. Typically, the storage system is sized at about 30 percent the size of the solar installation.

SolarCity claims, "Some utilities are basing rates less on the overall amount of electricity consumed, and more on 'peak demand,' [which is] the maximum amount of electricity used at a specific point in time. Solar power can significantly offset the overall amount of electricity used by organizations, but if an organization’s 'peak' electricity demand is still high during the day -- in the late afternoon, for example -- the organization can be hit with high demand charges. SolarCity’s commercial storage system regulates the amount of electricity that organizations need from the grid during 'peak' periods, reducing exposure to exorbitant demand charges."



Tesla CTO and co-founder JB Straubel commented in a release, “The economics and scale that Tesla has achieved in the automotive market now make stationary energy storage more cost-effective and reliable than it has ever been in the past. We expect this market to grow very rapidly now that we have crossed this economic threshold.”

Energy storage of this nature works best in regions with high demand charges or complex rate structures. SolarCity's storage system, always in tandem with solar, will be offered in regions of California serviced by PG&E and SCE, areas of Massachusetts serviced by NSTAR, and areas of Connecticut served by Connecticut Light & Power.

SolarCity's announcement comes at a peculiar time for energy storage in the Golden State. While utility-scale solar is being looked at carefully in California because of a 50-megawatt mandate for SCE and a 1.3-gigawatt mandate in the state, it is also getting some pushback by the large investor-owned utilities (IOUs).

As Jeff St. John just reported, California's state regulators are looking to resolve a conflict between the state’s big three IOUs and commercial customers that want to add batteries to solar PV systems. It's a conflict holding back the progress of more than 300 solar-storage projects that would add up to 10 megawatts of capacity. The IOUs are looking to block solar-storage projects that seek to interconnect to the grid under the state’s net metering program.

St. John reports, "Since this spring, those utilities have been requiring any net-metered solar power projects that include batteries to go through a lengthy and expensive process to prove their batteries aren’t feeding stored grid power back to the utility, while getting credited for delivering green, solar-generated electrons."

The IOUs are making the case that consumer energy storage can game the system and threatens net energy metering (NEM).

St. John writes, "It’s too early to know whether the CPUC will side with solar and energy storage advocates on this issue. But [CPUC Commissioner] Peevey’s ACR lays out several points that seem to indicate that he’s not persuaded by the utility argument that storage-backed solar represents a threat to net metering, or that the additional steps utilities are requiring for these systems are reasonable."

It comes down to metering the storage devices appropriately. Carlson of SolarCity notes that under the current tariff, there is a specified way of metering systems when solar is deployed along with other devices. Different metering is required when there is a shared inverter as opposed to when there are two separate inverters. It appears to be a solvable engineering and regulatory problem.

In any case, California leads the nation in energy storage legislation, mandates and goals, while SolarCity and the other behind-the-meter storage vendors are testing the current limits of how energy storage can be deployed on the grid edge.


Source : GreenTech Media

BMW i3 Video Commercial in a French Mall

For lunch break yesterday, I went to this Parly2 mall not far from work, where I test drove the i3 during the BMW i3 Tour, got to plug in my LEAF outside in a working outlet this time, and saw this right when I entered:  A beautiful Portrait Video Commercial for the BMW i3 French Launch

















In the meantime, I am charging ...

BMW i3 Commercial on BHV building in Marais - Paris

Seen yesterday in Maris, Paris, on the BHV (Bazar de l'Hotel de Ville), a famous Parisian department store, this big BMW i 3 commercial taking this whole portion of the wall

BMW i3 - Commercial Documentation / Brochure

For those who could not test drive it, here is a little something to look at