Why the solar-plus-battery revolution may be closer than you think - battery energy storage

At the end of April, Tesla Motor announced Powerwall, a home battery that can provide backup power, a step in the direction of subverting home energy, this matches higher capacity versions for businesses and even power companies.
Within about a week after the announcement, the company has completed orders worth $0. 8 billion, of which the vast majority of revenue is not for personal household batteries, but for larger batteries, A company or utility-scale application called powerpack.
With such figures, the revolution in energy storage may have arrived. [
Why Tesla's statement is so important: the upcoming revolution in energy storage
However, it is not entirely clear how it will work.
In particular, when a much-touted home energy storage pair with rooftop solar power, a big question mark is worrying --
So that people can power their homes at night with the solar energy collected during the day, and only need very little power grid
It will become widespread, not to mention affordable.
Some skeptics believe that buying Powerwall is still very expensive --
10 KW of the cost is $3,500.
Energy value at 7 KW or $3,000hours —
And against at least for the first time, it seems that its main use is only to provide backup power during a power outage.
In fact, SolarCity announced that it will provide Powerwall with home solar equipment at an additional cost, but called it a "battery backup service" with zero-
Emission storage technology.
Nevertheless, nancy ednancy Pfund, founder and managing partner of DBL Investors, believes that the solar cell revolution is coming in the form many imagine, A San Francisco-based venture capital company invested in Tesla and SolarCity in The Washington Post on Tuesday, called "America's answer: power the city" (
I chaired the group).
"This is a revolution," Pfund said . " "It's not far away," he added.
When asked how much solar capacity and battery storage capacity people need to power their homes with solar energy at night and charge electric vehicles overnight, she commented, "remember your phone, how unpractical, expensive and huge it was in the early days.
Obviously, the cost curve is falling . . . . . . There is a long list of people who want to do this.
"Pfund joined the group created by evan Burfield --
Incubator No. 1776, Daniel nosela, professor of energy at Harvard University, invented artificial leaves --
Artificial photosynthesis
It has set up Sun etitix, which was recently acquired by Lockheed Martin.
Burfield agrees with Pfund that as these technologies are already available in the market, you just have to look at their development --
This will happen soon.
"I think if you look at Model X [released], this metaphor would besoon]
"Compared to the original sports car, you have seen a huge improvement in the utility of electric vehicles," Burfield said . ".
"I think it is a very important first step to bring these batteries to the market. [They’re]
We may not make progress in the next four to five years.
Nocera has adopted different strategies.
Although he agreed that the cost of batteries would become cheaper due to mass production
For example, through Tesla's Gigafactory-
He also believes that relying solely on the declining cost curve is not enough to create cheap storage technologies that truly benefit the world's population (
Not people in rich countries like America).
"For the future, I am worried about global energy, and you will have to make huge changes," he said . ".
So Nocera calls for a more basic approach
Imitating photosynthesis is a perfect way for nature to acquire and store solar energy billions of years ago.
However, Pfund believes that Tesla and SolarCity must encounter doubts at every stage-and overcome them every time.
"This is a movie we have heard before," she said . "
"You can't reduce the cost of solar energy.
"You can't make electric cars that people will actually drive.
"It's impossible for an entry-level car to get a battery that's cheap enough.
"You can't do that, you can't do that.
We have heard the voices of every opponent, and somehow Tesla and SolarCity have managed to sell a lot of cars, install a lot of solar energy and achieve impressive market capitalization.
"The members of the group agreed that there would be a huge change in the grid due to storage technology.
Pfund points out that if power companies are able to store the energy collected by solar panels during the day, they will be able to use less natural gas
The fuel "peaker plants" is dirty and expensive, but is necessary during peak demand.
Nocera added, "This is storage in the sense of grid, which makes it a commodity that people can open up the market.
"In other words, it seems to be a major energy drain --
The arrival of energy storage-is coming.
It's just that we are in a dizzying early stage.