Battery energy storage systems are essential to today’s renewable energy mix. They make solar and wind power more resilient by storing surplus energy from these sources during periods of high demand or bad weather.
In addition, battery storage can help businesses of all sizes save money on their electricity bills. Using stored energy during peak times when higher rates can significantly reduce demand charges.
Reduced Utility Bills
Battery energy storage systems can help commercial and industrial users reduce utility bills through demand charge management. This is a cost-effective approach to reducing a customer’s peak demand from the grid, especially in hot weather when electricity prices are high. Energy storage is also helpful in improving power quality and helping to stabilize the electric grid by responding to voltage drops. A battery control system can automatically inject virtual current into the circuit, reducing the severity of voltage drops. Another benefit of a battery storage system is the ability to support grid flexibility and resilience through applications such as peak shaving. This application reconciles momentary differences in supply and demand promptly, providing value to the electrical grid through national and regional demand side response (DSR) schemes.
Increased Home Value
Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are key in the renewable energy puzzle, making green power more reliable and cost-effective. They help smooth out the flow of wind and solar power to provide a continuous power supply for businesses and homes, regardless of what the weather is doing. Homeowners can benefit from these energy storage systems by storing excess power produced by their solar panels during the day and using it later. This allows them to reduce reliance on the grid and avoid peak-demand pricing charges during periods of high electricity demand. Depending on your state, you can claim tax exemptions for installing a solar system with battery storage. This can add value to your home and provide peace of mind during a power outage. For commercial applications, BESSs can help smooth out peak demand (price spikes), reducing customer costs while avoiding constructing costly and polluting natural gas peaker plants.
Reduced Carbon Footprint
Battery storage systems can help reduce a business’s overall carbon footprint because they do not produce emissions while operating. This helps ensure that a business contributes to global carbon reduction targets, helping decarbonize the world’s energy system. Battery Storage Systems are also critical to a more reliable power supply as they can help smooth out the fluctuations of renewable energy such as wind and solar. This enables businesses to be more resilient and prepare for the zero-carbon future. In addition, they can help reduce the need for backup energy generation from coal and gas as they can store excess energy to be used later. This will significantly help reduce the number of fossil fuels needed on the grid and, in turn, reduce carbon emissions.
Increased Reliability
Battery storage systems improve the reliability of power plants, especially in industries that depend on single-point pumps (such as oil refining). Redundancy reduces the risk of plant failure by adding a standby pump, eliminating the need to shut down the main plant when it malfunctions. Reliability engineering is a set of techniques used to design systems in such a way as to make them reliable. It includes ensuring the system can operate without fault for a specified period, even under stressful conditions. Batteries are also useful in avoiding brownouts caused by localized power reductions, which is particularly important for wind and solar power because they have variable outputs. They also help to smooth out the supply of renewable energy by storing excess generation during off-peak periods and discharging it during peak demand times. Electric utilities, especially those in EMDE countries, are starting to use battery storage to improve grid resiliency and voltage regulation. This is because batteries can begin to discharge power within a fraction of a second, rather than several seconds, for conventional thermal power plants. This allows the utility to stabilize the electricity grid and reduces the need for costly transmission and distribution investments.
Reduced Maintenance Costs
Battery storage systems provide the backup power many commercial facilities need to keep their operations running. These include hospitals, data centers, and military bases. As a result, they can reduce your maintenance costs significantly. This can save you a lot of money on repairs and replacements that are otherwise required for traditional uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units. Moreover, they can also help you reduce your electricity tariffs. These systems work by accumulating energy during off-peak periods and discharging it during peak periods, saving you on the high price of electricity often associated with demand charge utility tariffs. Batteries are available in various technologies and can be paired with renewable sources for maximum efficiency. For example, lithium-ion batteries are a popular choice due to their ability to store large amounts of energy.
For commercial applications, battery systems can be used for peak shaving, load shifting, and emergency backup. They also support grid services like frequency regulation and power quality. For these reasons, battery storage is a great investment for businesses.