Energy Storage News – Renewable energy is now one of the lowest-cost sources of electric energy in the world, winning billions of dollars in open bids to provide energy to the grid. But as the renewable sector grows, utilities have to deal with the intermittent nature of its energy production, both on a minute-by-minute basis as well as through seasonal changes. And energy storage will likely play a key role in that adaptation.

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Energy Storage News – A study by German-based EuPD Research published last week demonstrated that even though nearly half of the Australian solar installers offer storage products, most of the batteries they sell are commercial rather than residential. Moreover, the survey showed that solar energy prosumers mostly buy storage products in combination with a new solar system. 

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A new report has concluded that investment in energy storage technology is vital for the success of renewable energy and its full integration into the energy sector.

According to a new study published by researchers from the University of East Anglia (UAE), government subsidies should be used so as to encourage further investment in energy storage, without which the authors of the report believe renewable energy will struggle to be fully integrated into the energy sector. The inherent variable nature of leading renewable energy technologies such as wind and solar requires energy storage so as to compensate for times when the wind may not be blowing, or the sun may not be shining. Energy storage systems such as reversed hydro power plants, large scale compressed air systems, and battery storage, are quickly being seen to be a vital companion to most, if not all, renewable energy technology installations.

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Energy Storage News – Solar power has always seemed on its surface to be the perfect solution to the world’s reliance on fossil fuels. After all, sunlight is free and abundantly available. The problem has always been efficiency, since solar panels generate power far less efficiently than other options. In fact, it takes about 40 square meters of solar panels to generate enough energy to power just one American home for a day, based on average use.

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Government subsidies should be used to encourage investment in energy storage systems if renewable power is to be fully integrated into the sector, according to researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA).

Variable output renewable energy systems, such as wind turbines and solar panels, are growing across Europe and contribute to supply and price volatility in electricity markets.

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Energy Storage News – Scientists from the University of East Anglia found wind and solar power can’t compete with conventional electricity without economical energy storage systems that don’t exist.

The research published Friday concludes without economical energy storage systems, wind and solar power simply aren’t that useful due to their unreliability and intermittent nature. The study argues the money used to financially support wind and solar power should be spent supporting research into bringing down the costs of energy storage.

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Energy Storage News – Many years ago, I was part of a U.S. Air Force program with the goal of reducing the battery weight carried by airmen and soldiers by 25 percent. The Air Force Program Office, after scouring the market for the ideal battery solution, quickly learned that no rechargeable battery could meet the power density, energy density, lifetime, and size/weight requirements.

However, they did not abandon the project — they took a hybrid approach to the problem.

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Energy Storage News – The Intertubes have been buzzing with news of a new “hourglass” flow battery that could provide a durable, low cost energy storage system for the nation’s vast wind and solar resources. The old meme about clean power being unreliable is fast disappearing, and if the new battery pans out, that will seal the deal.

In addition to becoming an area of interest for the Energy Department’s solar and wind grid integration efforts, flow batteries are also edging their way into electric vehicle technology.

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About 250 of the world’s leading energy storage experts are gathering at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland this week to discuss research that could make electric transportation and use of renewable energy more practical.

They will consider next-generation storage technologies that could be less costly, safer and more environmentally friendly that today’s state-of-the-art energy storage device, the lithium-ion battery.

Energy Storage News – With the change-over from centralised fossil fuel power to distributed renewable energy, there is intense interest in battery storage to cope with intermittency of solar PV and wind power. There is no doubt that batteries will have a major part in the transition. Apart from flow batteries, however, the opportunities for multiple-hour storage and discharge at scale over a period of hours is still unresolved. It is implemented for cars and household storage and indeed the first steps to access power stored in the batteries of Electric Vehicles have already been taken.

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