Growth in distributed energy storage is exceeding industry expectations and is expected to grow from 276 MW in 2015 to nearly 2,400 MW in 2018 and then 12,000 MW by 2024, according to a Navigant Research report.
“Distributed storage is among the fastest-growing markets for energy storage globally,” said Anissa Dehamna, senior research analyst with Navigant Research. “In particular, residential and commercial energy storage are expected to be the focus of technological advances and market activity in the coming years.”
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Batteries are fueling the growth, particularly lithium ion (Li-ion), according to the report. At the same time, use is found increasingly for storage in with solar photovoltaics, electric vehicles, electric vehicle charging, and home energy networks.
Companies Navigant looks at in the space include Aquion Energy, FIAMM SoNick, GILDEMEISTER energy solutions, Kokam, Kyocera, LG Chem, Panasonic, RedFlow Technologies, Samsung SDI, Software and Integration, CODA Energy, E3/DC, Green Charge Networks, Greensmith Energy Management Systems, Ideal Power, Moixa Energy Holdings, S&C Electric Company, Stem
Navigant offers more details in its report, “Community, Residential, and Commercial Energy Storage,” downloadable for a fee.
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Ideal Power, developer of a disruptive power conversion technology, says it has signed a supplier agreement to provide power conversion systems to Green Charge Networks. and received a multi-unit order for its 30-kW battery converter.
The units will support energy storage systems that Green Charge plans to install at schools in Mountain View and Tulare, California. The installations, aimed at reducing peak demand charges, are expected to save the schools more than $1.5 million over the contract term.
Ideal Power’s 30-kW battery converter offers high efficiency with a small footprint. The company describes it as ideal for commercial and community-scale energy storage systems and can smooth intermittent renewable generation, provide load shifting, reduce peak demand and buffer EV fast chargers.
Ideal Power has worked closely with Green Charge Networks since 2013, providing systems for more than a dozen California customers including municipal buildings, schools, and electric vehicle fast charging installations.
Ideal Power also announced a multi-year alliance with LG Chem, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of lithium-ion batteries. The two companies will coordinate to jointly market and sell LG Chem’s lithium-ion batteries and Ideal Power’s power conversion systems for commercial demand charge reduction and microgrid applications.
The collaboration is in response to the demand from system integrators for simple, paired sets of hardware that have been sized and matched to optimize system performance for specific applications, such as peak demand charge reduction for commercial & industrial customers, according to Ideal Power.
