Battery technologies
The pro and con debate centred on sustainable energy systems continues in boardrooms, coffee lounges and the family home.
The challenges to be overcome are mainly concerned with:-
- Keeping lithium systems cool in hot humid environments
- Safety and stability in systems that are constantly charged or have fluctuating
- power demands
- Sizes, space and capacities
- The ability to cope with power demands over short and extended periods
Yet it is clear to see that in ever increasing strides the changes occurring in technology will very soon offer both the commercial and residential sectors unique options in generating and storing energy.
And an important area of that change is occurring in the larger storage units suitable for commercial applications. It is estimated that more than 80% of the sales in energy storage systems will come from the supply of units with capacities of 100 kilo-watt hours. Compare this with the current capacity of 7kWh units being sold for the residential sector.
In 2015 the International Renewable Energy Agency stated that renewable electricity supplies need to double to about 45% by 2030. Potentially this equates to about 475 Gigawatts of power generated by renewable sources. In 2013 the annual installation of battery storage systems was approximately 0.34 Gigawatts.
So it is not so unusual to see that as the various technologies evolve combinations of storage units will be used to supplement solar in areas like accommodation providers, commercial buildings, remote or rural grids and shopping centres.
We provide some further reading for your interest: