Held at the end of July, the event, “Enabling the growth of the residential energy storage market in the UK”, brought together manufacturers including the UK’s Moixa, Powervault, Wattstor and heat battery maker Sunamp, along with international system makers ASD Sonnenspeicher, Sonnenbatterie and SMA Solar Technology.
Along with PV Tech Storage editor Andy Colthorpe, Jerry Hamilton from distributor Rexel Energy Solutions and Gabriel Wondrausch of installer Sungift, also at the table were representatives of the Electricity Storage Network (UK), British Photovoltaics Association (BPVA), analysis firm IHS and the renewable energy division of law firm Eversheds.
A diverse range of opinions was aired in an often animated discussion, with topics covered including policy and regulation, codes of conduct the industry should follow and an assessment of the available opportunities.
While there is more in depth coverage of event to come on PV Tech Storage and through Solar Media's various other channels, here are two short videos summing up some of the thoughts of attendees on key topics.
Incidentally, PV Tech Storage reported from the event that one of the attendees claimed to have been promised the UK's first Tesla Powerwall. According to a Tesla representative this is not the case and "no promises have been made to any customers", although it is clear this was a misunderstanding made in good faith. The Tesla spokeswoman confirmed that Powerwall will be available in the UK in the first quarter of 2016 and that the company is "in the process of finalising our distribution partners and will announce this as soon this is complete".
Industry figures discuss UK residential energy storage potential - Solar Media Round Table July 2015
Joe Warren of Powervault, Jerry Hamilton of Rexel Energy Solutions, Rob Such of Wattstor, Gabriel Wondrausch of Sungift, Keith Hounsell of Green Acorn and Sam Wilkinson of IHS give their views on the addressable residential market and explain the appeal of energy storage in the UK.
Regulatory & policy direction for UK residential market - Solar Media Round Table July 2015
Key figures from UK industry discuss topics including:
Why collaboration between companies on developing standards is critical
Why the government needs to avoid over-regulating “for the sake of it”
What the UK could learn from Germany’s experiences so far
Making the economics work for storage
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