While Germany is one of the world’s leaders in solar PV and now an early leader in residential energy storage, utility-scale energy storage is still “under discussion” and not yet a mature proposition, industry figures have said.

While seeming “tech breakthroughs” garner a great deal of media attention, the three key factors in determining the likely impact of storage tech companies are innovative technology, scalability and a proven track record, a Bloomberg New Energy Finance analyst has said.

The deployment of energy storage in the US is set to triple in 2015 compared to 2014, according to a new report by GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association (ESA).

This year will be the one when “PV energy storage systems (PVESS) make an enormous leap toward wide-scale adoption”, according to research firm IHS.

The annual energy capacity of batteries used in utility-scale applications will be seen to increase by a factor of more than 100 between now and 2023, according to a new report published by US analysis firm Navigant Research.