A newly launched three-year project, supported by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy ​Solar Energy Technologies Office​, will bring together diverse stakeholders to identify and develop solutions to solar and solar + storage code enforcement and permitting challenges.

The project builds upon and will significantly expand the work of the Sustainable Energy Action Committee (SEAC), an organization founded in California in 2015 as a forum for collaboration on guidelines for implementation of codes and standards for permitting and inspection practices of renewable energy systems. SEAC brings together authorities having jurisdiction (AHJs) — such as local building and fire departments, contractors, manufacturers, suppliers, utilities, testing labs and other clean energy stakeholders for collaboration and problem solving related to solar PV installation and energy storage projects.

Under the recent U.S. Energy Department award, the ​Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC)​ will lead the administration of SEAC and facilitate its expansion into a national forum. Other key partners in the project include the International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI), International Code Council (ICC), UL LLC, International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), National Association of State Fire Marshals (NASFM), Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), U.S. Energy Storage Association (ESA) and California Solar & Storage Association (CALSSA).

The project will facilitate improvements in the permitting and inspection of solar and solar + storage projects by developing consensus-based solutions to high-priority codes and standards needs. An analysis will be conducted to determine the gaps in understanding and implementation that complicate code enforcement and can deter clean energy deployment. A consensus process will then be used to develop solutions. The project will also develop a website hosting information on clean energy code and permitting best practices and include extensive outreach to facilitate uptake of these practices.

Clear and comprehensive procedures defining permitting, inspection and other requirements for solar and solar + storage projects are essential to ensure the safety and quality of installed systems. By identifying and addressing unmet needs in this area the project will advance public safety objectives. Additionally, by facilitating awareness and adoption of codes and standards best practices, the project will help reduce the non-hardware “soft costs” of solar and energy storage, thus supporting greater adoption.

Panasonic has announced a new strategic alliance with Span to deliver a combined energy storage and management offering that will give homeowners a new level of control over their battery backup power with intuitive energy management for the entire home.

Span is a smart panel innovator and maker of the Span Smart Panel designed to replace the traditional electrical panel with more intuitive, customisable controls. When paired with EverVolt, Panasonic’s residential home energy storage solution, consumers gain more control over battery backup power and access to simple whole-home energy management, powered by Panasonic’s leading battery technology.

“Panasonic is thrilled to work with Span to bring homeowners more control, customisation and visibility over their home energy reserves and expenditures,” said Mukesh Sethi, Director, Panasonic Life Solutions Company of America. “Alongside increased demand for versatile, reliable and efficient residential home energy storage, customers tell us they want more control over how their energy is allocated within the home. Together, Span and Panasonic are answering that call.”

Panasonic EverVolt is designed with customisation in mind. Available in AC- and DC-coupled versions, EverVolt supports existing or new solar systems, offering a flexible solution optimised for homeowners’ energy needs and budgets. In addition, the system can be scaled down to as little as 11.4kWh of energy storage or expanded to 34.2kWh and comes equipped with advanced software and a user-friendly app for homeowners. The Panasonic engineered storage system is compatible with any solar system or inverter and can be tailored to a homeowner’s individual needs.

A high-capacity energy storage solution is needed to capture clean energy and release it when demand exceeds supply. Massive electrochemical batteries are one possibility, but battery technology has limitations related to cost and durability.

British start-up company Gravitricity has developed a system to store excess electricity by using the power of gravity.

The company’s power supply system uses a series of winches to store electrical energy as potential energy by raising large weights in a vertical shaft. When energy is needed, the weights can be released and the winches can be turned into electrical generators.

Gravitricity was developed by inventor Peter Franco, who also produced the first full-scale tidal energy turbine.

What is Gravity-Based Energy Storage?

Gravity-based energy storage is an evolution of pumped hydro storage (PHS) technologies, which can store large quantities of energy using the mass of water at different elevations.

PHS systems are only economically viable as massive operations due to installation costs. For instance, the cost of a PHS tunnel doubles when it doubles in diameter. However, a tunnel twice the width quadruples the quantity of water that can pass through it, boosting the storage capacity of the system.

How does the Gravitricity System Work?

Rather than a series of tunnels and pumps, the Gravitricity system is based on a vertical shaft up to 1500 meters deep with weight configurations ranging from 500 to 5000 tonnes.

Broad Reach Power, a rapidly growing energy storage independent power producer (IPP) based in Houston which owns a three gigawatt portfolio of utility scale solar and energy storage power projects in Montana, Wyoming, California, Utah and Texas, today announced that it will build 15 utility-scale battery storage plant sites in areas near Houston and Odessa by the end of 2020. Six sites are expected to be online and operating this summer, and it is anticipated that the others will be under construction this fall. Each site will contain battery systems capable of storing and distributing up to 10 megawatts of power.

“Despite the turmoil of 2020, U.S. demand for lower cost and emission-free generation sources such as solar and wind is increasing, and this is fueling the need for more battery storage assets,” said Broad Reach Power Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer Steve Vavrik, whose company has begun development or construction of nearly $100 million of storage assets in less than a year since launching. “While many parts of the country grapple with economic challenges created by COVID-19, Texas is uniquely poised for continued industrial growth in the near future. Thanks to the state’s rapidly expanding and affordable clean power resources, reliable grid, deep talent base and business-friendly policies, Texas will be a prime location for data centers, manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies looking to expand their U.S. operations. However, the abundant, cheap and emission-free in-state generation resources these companies want, or sometimes even require, will need complementary storage assets to ensure the grid’s continued reliability.”

In addition to making the grid more resilient, these storage projects also provide utilities and grid operators with more options to bring the grid back online after an emergency such as a hurricane or tropical storm. They are emission-free, do not use scarce water resources, and are both small as well as modular so they can be constructed near customers with minimal intrusion. Each site is being developed using local civil and electrical engineers, surveyors, civil contractors, electrical contractors, and project managers.

Broad Reach Power plans to develop additional projects of this size in Texas as well as several larger projects in the Valley and Panhandle regions of the state and outside the region soon. The company was formed in July 2019 and is backed by leading energy investors EnCap Investments L.P., Yorktown Partners, and Mercuria Energy.

A group of 11 community-focused energy utility groups in California have issued a Request for Information on long duration energy storage technologies that could be connected to the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) grid.

Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) are permitted to supply energy to residents in several US states. In California CCAs operate in the service areas of the major investor-owned utilities and benefit from the IOUs infrastructure, while being able to freely determine their energy suppliers and generation mix. Deanne Barrow, a senior associate at law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, who has worked on several deals involving CCAs, told Energy-Storage.news recently that the CCAs role in procuring energy in the US is growing.

Energy-Storage.news has reported on several moves by CCAs to procure energy storage, both standalone and in combination with solar PV. Most recently, in early April this year, CCA CalChoice picked esVolta for a 15MW / 60MWh lithium-ion battery storage system to help provide Resource Adequacy in Santa Paula, a city in California’s Ventura County.

Later that month, thin-film solar technology company and project developer First Solar signed power purchase agreements (PPAs) with CCAs Monterey Bay Community Power (MBCP) and Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) for a 100MW solar PV plant combined with 20MW / 50MWh of battery energy storage systems.

Last week, the long duration request for information was published jointly by MBCP, SVCE and nine other CCAs: Clean Power Alliance of Southern California, CleanPowerSF, East Bay Community Energy, Marin Clean Energy, Peninsula Clean Energy, Redwood Coast Energy Authority, San Jose Clean Energy, Sonoma Clean Power and Valley Clean Energy.

The groups are collecting information to help with their long-term resource planning, through which a need for long duration storage has been identified. The ‘Joint CCAs’ group also said the information may inform a “subsequent long-duration storage request for offers” that might be issued “as soon as this summer”, either by the CCAs in some combination, or individually.