Despite the growing interest and deployment figures for lithium-ion batteries for stationary energy storage, its ‘predecessor’ lead acid still has a strong role to play in enabling more and more people to go solar, a representative of Trojan Battery has argued.
Recent assessments of the US energy storage market for grid-connected systems from GTM Research put lithium-ion on a market share of around 95% over quarterly or even annual installation stats, with lead acid leading the small wedge of remaining battery systems. However, when you look to other opportunities for stationary energy storage, namely, the off-grid PV mini grid segment, particularly in emerging markets where grid access is often challenging and expensive and price points for lithium are not quite as compelling as in the US and other more ‘mature’ markets, lead acid is still being looked at as a cost-effective and useful component.
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Last week, Energy-Storage.news reported on the views of one of Trojan’s distributors in Africa, Nawir Ibrahim of Centre for Alternative Technologies (CAT), Kenya, that lead acid currently holds a big advantage in that supply chains exist for recycling that offer value and helps reduce potential environmental damage from waste. Following on, at Intersolar Europe / ees Europe, Michael Grundke, a senior sales representative for the lead acid battery provider, told Energy-Storage.news that while lithium-ion is certainly the technology people are talking about, various iterations of lead acid battery technology can still help bring electrification to communities and even businesses that might not otherwise have the chance.