Dramatic cost reduction in photovoltaics (PV), combined with lower electrical storage costs from batteries for the automotive industry, are creating new business opportunities for grid-tied PV systems that include energy storage. This article addresses the technical and economical justification for electrical storage with PV and what it means for the PV industry.

In 2002 the California Energy Commission Public Interest Energy Research (CEC PIER) funded an investigation into the value of electrical storage combined with PV by Dr. Richard Perez of the State University of New York Albany. This work was intended to address the intermittency associated with PV technology.  Intermittency is the reduction of solar output caused by the movement of clouds over PV modules. Dr. Perez came up with the term Solar Load Control (SLC).

A small amount of electrical storage has great value for grid-tied PV. For commercial buildings with PV, small amounts of storage can ensure a demand reduction value on the utility bill (a similar demand reduction can be obtained from energy management systems turning off non-essential equipment). A small amount of deployable electrical storage or a demand reduction strategy can provide more value to the PV system owner and the utility.

via PV System Values: Solar Energy Needs Electrical Storage Now | Renewable Energy News Article.