Virtual power plants, flow batteries and the economics of lithium-ion battery degradation are the focus of three feature-length articles, available now in the latest edition of Solar Media’s quarterly journal PV Tech Power.
Energy-Storage.news has been proudly creating and curating ‘Storage & smart power’, a dedicated section in the journal. We’ve been privileged to receive submissions from authors across the industry and from the spectrum of analysts and clean energy experts and this edition, published as part of Volume 16 of PV Tech Power, is no exception.
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Two authors from EPRI, the US national non-profit organisation which conducts research and development related to the electric system from generation to transmission and distribution delivery, have contributed a piece entitled “Is that battery cycle worth it?”
Maximising energy storage lifecycle value with advanced controls”. Authors Dr Andres Cortes and Ben Kaun take a close look at the technical – and economic – aspects of using lithium-ion batteries in renewables integration. Different applications will put different demands onto batteries, potentially affecting how long they can remain in the field without augmentation or cell replacement and affecting how readily they can combine certain ‘stacked applications’.
Elsewhere, fellow Solar Media writer David Pratt and I take a look at virtual power plants (VPPs). Three case studies from the UK look at different approaches to aggregating behind-the-meter resources to form powerful tools for network operators. With the help of Delta-EE analyst Valts Grintals and the case study projects’ participants, in “Virtual reality: VPPs in a break with tradition” we looked at how commercial providers, utilities, authorities and communities are starting to embrace the concept.
Finally, there’s the second part of ‘Long time coming’, my examination of the tech, strategies and aspirations of flow energy storage providers. As the growth of energy storage as a companion to solar continues, there is an expectation that longer durations of storage will be required to meet demand for this renewable energy. While each of the companies spoken to: Primus Power, VRB/Pu Neng, ESS Inc and RedT all have different technologies and different approaches to manufacturing and business model creation, all of them are convinced flow batteries – or flow machines as RedT CEO Scott McGregor would have it – will take an increasing share of the overall market, a view backed up by Navigant Research’s Ian McClenny, who we also spoke with.
Plenty to read there, and lots of great downstream solar PV content too, from floating solar and bi-facial modules to legal and financial analysis and views, from the Solar Media team and our esteemed contributors.
Download Vol.16 of PV Tech Power for free here (subscription details required).