There’s been a lot of buzz about Tesla’s residential energy storage system Powerwall. But energy consulting firm THEnergy says Tesla’s industrial energy storage Powerpack will boost interest in commercial hybrid energy plants such as solar- or wind-diesel systems, as well.
According to THEnergy, until now, the decision-making process for hybrid systems was focused on short-term pay-off periods. Frequently, storage solutions were not even considered because they were notorious for being expensive. The lack of awareness of competitive energy storage systems often ended the purchase process before it had begun.
Tesla’s market entry is good news for the entire energy storage industry as it greatly expands awareness, and the market growth can only partly be covered by Tesla. All storage providers are in a better position to convince their investors that they are in an attractive business field.
Tesla itself does not seem to focus too much on the hybrid markets, says THEnergy. However, in Tesla’s network there are potential partners for collaborating on hybrid applications: first and foremost Solarcity for a PV-diesel hybrid. It can be expected that many companies will try to partner with Tesla, from the solar as well as from the wind sector.
In hybrid applications, storage can be used for peak shaving and stabilizing volatile renewable energy sources. Storage in hybrid applications often allows for considerably reducing diesel consumption by increasing the share of renewable energy in the system.
Photo: Hybrid plant in South Africa courtesy of CRONIMET Mining Power Solutions GmbH