Lithium-ion value chain: from cell precursors to battery systems / Market overview: Who's doing what in the battery storage space Special edition ...
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February 2019 Lithium-ion value chain: from cell precursors to battery systems / Market overview: Who’s doing what in the battery storage space Special edition in collaboration with
Düsseldorf, Germany – March 12–14, 2019
www.ESEexpo.com
Tokyo, Japan – June 2019
www.ESJsummit.com
Guangzhou, China – September 11–12, 2019
www.ESCexpo.cn
San Diego, California, USA – November 05–07, 2019
www.ESNAexpo.com
New Delhi, India – January 2020
www.ESIexpo.in
www.worldenergystorage.com
Editorial
imprint Three key themes for more growth
Special publication
A special publication produced by pv magazine group GmbH
& Co. KG, in partnership with Messe Düsseldorf GmbH Photo: pv magazine/Thomas Beetz
What does an industry need in order to
Publisher
grow? It has to solve people’s problems.
Eckhart K. Gouras
pv magazine group GmbH & Co. KG This happens through innovation. The
Kurfürstendamm 64, 10707 Berlin, Germany
U.S. affiliate: pv trade media LLC,
industry has to offer quality and estab-
86-10 Grand Avenue, #7K, New York, NY 11373 lish methods for quality assurance to give
Editors pv magazine group investors confidence. And it must have
Michael Fuhs, Editorial Director strong players along the entire value
fuhs@pv-magazine.com
Becky Beetz – Head of Content – beetz@pv-magazine.com chain who can manufacture components,
Jonathan Gifford – Managing Editor – integrate them into systems, and bring
gifford@pv-magazine.com
Mark Hutchins – mark.hutchins@pv-magazine.com
demanding projects to fruition.
Emiliano Bellini – emiliano.bellini@pv-magazine.com
Christian Roselund – Americas Editor –
roselund@pv-magazine.com
In this special edition, we take a closer
Sandra Enkhardt – enkhardt@pv-magazine.com look at these three key issues. To this end,
Marian Willuhn – marian.willuhn@pv-magazine.com pv magazine is once again cooperating
Authors: Cornelia Lichner, Mirco Sieg, George Touloupas,
with Energy Storage Europe, a storage
Proofreader: Paul Zubrinich
Translator: Tim Hanes
trade fair and conference which opens sors to integrated battery system, which
Photo editor: Tom Baerwald its doors on March 12 in Düsseldorf, and is long and complex. (pp. 17-21).
Graphics: Harald Schütt where these and other issues will play a
Cover: Illustration by Stefan Lochmann
role. In the third part we provide an overview of
Sales & Marketing Director the players in the industry and what kind
Andrea Jeremias
Tel.: +49-30-213 00 50 23 | jeremias@pv-magazine.com The first part of the edition deals with the of battery storage they offer in Germany
innovations that will be on show in Düs- and Europe for capacities of 30 kilowatt
Sales
Fabienne Cuisinier
seldorf. There were 21 applicants from hours and up. For the market overview,
Tel.: +49 -30-213 00 50 39 | cuisinier@pv-magazine.com among the exhibitors for the pv maga- we interviewed component manufactur-
Greater China & Korea, Hong Kong Office, Calvin Chong
Tel.: +852-9732 8266 | calvin@pv-magazine.com zine energy storage highlights ranking. A ers, system integrators, plant managers,
North America, Matt Gallinger prestigious jury evaluated these submis- and EPCs. (pp. 22-24).
Tel.: +1-518-560-0179 | matt@pv-magazine.com
Japan, Noriko Ishii sions in the categories of innovation, mar-
Tel.: +49 -30-213 00 50 24 | japan@pv-magazine.com ket relevance, and the extent to which they I would like to thank Messe Düsseldorf for
Marketing promote the energy transition. We then the excellent collaboration and support of
Marina Ramain - Senior Manager Marketing & Events selected the top 10 candidates. (pp. 2-16). our Energy Storage Europe special edition
Tel: +49-30-213 00 50 29 | marina.ramain@pv-magazine.com
Jasmina Zlatoper - Junior Manager Marketing & Sales and look forward to welcoming you there
Tel: +49-30-213 00 36 | jasmina.zlatoper@pv-magazine.com
The second part of the issue focuses on at pv magazine’s booth #8BC06.
Advertising Administration quality assurance. This has to comprise
Anika Wedemeyer
Tel.: +49-30-213 00 50 22 | media@pv-magazine.com
the whole value chain, from cell precur- Michael Fuhs, Editorial Director
Subscriptions
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Layout & typesetting Contents
Alexx Schulz | mADVICE Berlin
Printer Highlights at Energy Storage Europe
2
Humburg Media group, From batteries to power electronics, power-to-gas, electric thermal stor-
Am Hilgeskampf 51-57, D-28325 Bremen
age, and standout projects: See who made the top 10.
Copyright
The magazine and all of the texts and images contained therein
are protected by copyright. When a manuscript is approved Find the differences
17
for publication, the right to publish, translate, reprint, elec-
tronically store in databases, print special editions, photocop- CEA’s George Touloupas and storage expert Nicholas Ogilvie on the com-
ies, and microcopies is transferred to the publisher. The pub-
lisher requires the author to be the holder of copyrights and
plex path from battery cell to battery energy storage system.
commercialization rights for all submissions. Any commercial
use outside the limits specified by copyright is inadmissible
without the publisher’s consent. Who offers what?
22
ISSN 1865-3138
An overview of component manufacturers, system integrators, plant man-
pv magazine was founded in 2008 by
Solarpraxis AG, Karl-Heinz Remmers. agers, and EPCs with a focus on systems from 30 kWh and up in Germany
and Europe.
pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage Europe | 02 / 2019 1
Highlights
Energy storage highlights
A jury of leading analysts and industry experts selected a shortlist of the must-see concepts, developments, and
products from the exhibitors at Energy Storage Europe in Düsseldorf, and compiled the pv magazine energy storage
highlights ranking, with the top 10 entries ranked, and honorable mentions for a further 11 innovations.
T his year’s top ranked innovations
Photo: Ads-tec
offer a glimpse of the energy world
of the future. Thirty years from now, it
could look something like this: Large-
scale generators have long been a thing
of the past. A combination of storage
systems, solar and wind generation, and
power plant control replaces the inertia of
rotating mass to maintain grid frequency,
and this is financed by the newly created
market for instantaneous reserve.
Power networks have been expanded
somewhat, but cities have created tens of
thousands of electric car charging points,
mainly by increasing charging capac-
ity tenfold with extremely small battery
storage devices and silicon carbide tech-
nology. When truly short supply gaps
become a reality, thermal storage sys-
Photo: Vattenfall
tems spring into action, and some of the
energy they store will even be converted
back into electricity.
Progress marches on in autonomous
island grids as well. Service providers
who set up microgrids on islands have
become so experienced that they can
quickly install small distributed systems
with decentralized battery storage, elimi-
nating the need for diesel generators.
Like last year, six prestigious inde-
pendent jurors evaluated 21 submissions
from exhibitors at Energy Storage Europe
according to the criteria of innovation,
relevance, strength, prospects of success,
and the extent to which they contribute
to the energy transition. The following
Photo: Baywa r.e.
pages paint a picture of their findings.
The jurors determined the first to fifth
places in discussions, and they arrived
at the sixth to 10th places after a written
grading. The other submissions will be
published without rankings. It is worth
noting that the submissions that took
places one through five impressed the
jurors particularly in the categories of
relevance and foreseeable market suc-
cess. The submissions in places six to 10,
on the other hand, scored higher in the
innovation category. Michael Fuhs
2 02 / 2019 | pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage Europe
Highlights
Highlight Jury
Xavier Daval
Xavier is an international solar and storage expert, as well as CEO of French solar technical advisory firm kiloWattsol SAS,
which he founded in 2007. Daval is an electrical engineer and former director EMEA of an NYSE-listed manufacturer of
tools for the electronics industry. He is also Vice President of French renewable energy association Syndicat des Energies
Renouvelables - SER, Chair of its solar commission SER-SOLER, and Director of the Global Solar Council (GSC).
Logan Goldie-Scot
Logan Goldie-Scot heads up the Energy Storage insight team at Bloomberg NEF. He leads the company’s analysis on
the global energy storage markets, providing insights on technology, markets, policies, and regulation, as well as the
competitive landscape. He also oversees the company’s analysis on supply chains.
Rolf Heynen
Rolf Heynen is the Director of Good! New Energy. Good! is known for the annual Dutch Solar Trend Report (also published
in English), the Solar Quarterly, the Solar Solutions international trade fair, and the Solar Business Day conference. Good!
is also active in renewable heating, smart lighting/buildings, energy storage, consulting, energy modelling, and market
research. Rolf holds degrees in both electrical engineering and political science.
Mark Higgins
Mark Higgins is the COO of Strategen, a professional services firm focused on market development for a decarbonized grid.
Mark’s broad energy sector experience prior to Strategen includes serving as the Director of Utility West at SunEdison, Vice
President of Finance of Hu Honua Bioenergy, and Pacific Gas & Electric’s lead in key policy areas including interconnection
and transmission planning.
Julian Jansen
Julian Jansen is a research manager at IHS Markit Technology. He leads the group’s global research on stationary
energy storage and provides deep insight on the key value drivers and emerging business models accelerating storage
deployment across Europe and North America. Additionally, Julian delivers strategic advice for bespoke projects on a
range of new energy technologies.
Florian Mayr
Florian Mayr is a partner and the head of Apricum’s energy storage, digital energy, and green mobility practices. He is an
expert for strategy, business development, and transaction advisory in the global renewable energy markets. Mayr advises
cleantech companies on corporate and project financing. Prior to Apricum, he spent eight years in senior positions at
McKinsey & Company and RWE.
pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage Europe | 02 / 2019 3
Highlights
1
ads-tec
Stationary storage to
boost e-mobility
A Porsche EV has a capacity of around
100 kWh. A typical grid connection
can deliver 20 kW at 32 amps. Given this,
possible to make an estimate. If a battery
has a lifespan of 4,000 cycles, and costs
around €500/kWh, the additional costs
Jury comments
Mark Higgins: “It is important to unlock
it will take around two and half hours to for charging would be around €0.05 to the deployment of fast charging infra-
charge the battery to 50% capacity. This €0.12/kWh. Additionally, one feature structure by solving the problem through
is despite the fact that the car is the first of the HPC Booster is that it can pro- battery solutions.”
that can be charged at 800 V high volt- vide ancillary services to the grid, which
age with 320 kW – but of course, only if would help with refinancing. The com- Florian Mayr: “This is an important con-
the charger can deliver that power. In that pany also says that, at least in Germany, tribution to overcoming the barriers that
case, it takes around 10 minutes for a 50% there are subsidies available to support stand in the way of widespread electrifi-
capacity charge – around 16 times faster. such installations. cation of mobility. The window of oppor-
To address this challenge, German The HPC Booster convinced the jury of tunity is somewhat limited, however.
company ads-tec GmbH has developed its merit, despite their criticism that such Demand must be high enough to make
a charging system named HPC Booster, a battery for EV charging support would sufficient use of the investment, but the
which can produce this high voltage with only work where the intervals between utilization must be low enough for the
the assistance of a 140 kWh battery. The car charging cycles are long enough for batteries to recharge. In the end, one has
stationary battery at the charging point the battery to recharge. Speidel agrees, to compare the cost of this solution with
is loaded continuously from the grid, and but says that he is convinced that there the cost and local availability of other
can be quickly discharged into the car on will always be sufficient idle charging solutions such as grid expansion.”
demand. With this product, the company points. In principle, there is enough
assumes pole position in the 2019 Energy energy available to charge electric cars, Logan Goldie-Scot: “Battery storage can
Storage Highlights ranking. but it is not always at the right location help EV fast charger operators mitigate a
The HPC Booster’s footprint of just at the right time. The battery booster can number of business challenges, including
1.20 × 1.20 m is a particularly unique fea- help to overcome this. demand charges and time-of-use energy
ture of the system, according to ads-tec rates, but it’s very site specific.”
CEO Thomas Speidel. “Because of that, it
can also be deployed in cities where there
is little available space.”
Graphic: ads-tec
Such locations could be in high density
city districts where there simply isn’t suf-
ficient space available for grid expansion.
Speidel explains that one field application
could be for urban logistics and deliv-
ery vehicles, which will run emissions
free. Such vehicles have a range of 100 to
150 km and require established charg-
ing infrastructure with such fast charg-
ing capabilities.
How did ads-tec achieve the HPC
Booster’s compact footprint? By utilizing
silicon carbide semiconductors. The cir-
cuitry has been developed together with
Fraunhofer ISE and achieves particularly
high switching frequencies.
Essentially, there are two possible busi-
ness models for the product. In one, it is
installed as infrastructure to make res-
taurants, pubs, museums etc more attrac-
tive to customers. The other could involve
customers paying a premium per kilowatt
hour for using the fast charging solution.
Ads-tec does not publicly disclose its
pricing for such systems, however it is
4 02 / 2019 | pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage Europe
Highlights
2
Vattenfall, Nordex, CC4E
Turning renewables into
grid stabilizers
Photo: Vattenfall
T he fluctuating nature of renewable
energy poses a challenge for network
operators. At the same time though, it has
tery, the team of researchers managed to
use wind energy to provide primary bal-
ancing power, as well as spinning reserve
out a road map to source 100% of Ham-
burg and the surrounding state of
Schleswig-Holstein’s electricity demand
opened up a market for storage system for which the project aims to develop and from renewables.
suppliers. test business models.
As ever increasing renewable penetra- Looking further out into the future, the Jury comments
tion drives fossil fuel generators out of the team seeks to provide dispatching power
overall energy mix, energy providers and and reactive power with their system. The Julian Jansen: “The NEW 4.0 project
grid operators are working on finding technical viability is only one part of the is at the forefront of bringing together
new cheaper and sustainable solutions project, as the team is also considering key stakeholders from across the energy
for the provision of grid stabilization. market regulations that would benefit industry to help shape how a future
In an attempt to turn renewable energy such actions. decentralized, low-carbon, digital, and
resources from a liability to an asset in While the currently featured project customer-centric energy system may
terms of grid stability, the utility Vatten- charges the battery and feeds wind power work.”
fall, in partnership with Nordex Energy into the grid, the team stresses that the
GmbH and the Competence Center research will benefit the solar industry Logan Goldie-Scott: “Energy storage
for Renewable Energy and Energy Effi- as well. is making possible truer competition
ciency (CC4E) at Hamburg University of Photovoltaics struggles with the same between renewable energy and thermal
Applied Sciences, co-located a lithium- issues of fluctuation and could likewise assets across more time frames. Pilots
ion storage system with the Curslack benefit from co-location of storage sys- such as this will help build out the use
wind farm in northern Germany. tems. The offering of various forms of case.”
The wind farm boasts a power of grid ancillary services could be per-
12.6 MW, and since November has been formed in the same way by solar plus Florian Mayr: “A holistic approach to
equipped with a 720 kW/792 kWh lith- storage projects. proactively push for a market frame-
ium-ion storage system. The wind tur- The project runs under the auspices work that would allow to further mone-
bines charge the batteries and feed into of the NEW 4.0 Norddeutsche Ener- tize the value of storage. Although in pilot
the grid via a shared access point, using gieWende collaborative project. Accord- phase, the approach and the specific topic
a specialized load management system. ingly, 60 partners comprising economic, are relevant for the industry and energy
By co-locating the wind park and bat- scientific, and political actors have laid transition.”
pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage Europe | 02 / 2019 5
Highlights
3
OpenEMS
An operating system for the
energy transition
T he OpenEMS Association standard-
izes the communication of storage
systems on an open source basis. The
The basis for OpenEMS is a product
originally developed by German stor-
age integrator Fenecon, which the com-
standard as it also provides the software
on an open source basis. However, it is
necessary to avoid multiple standards.
software facilitates energy management pany now releases as open source. The OpenEMS seems to aim for similar appli-
systems, possible business models such OpenEMS Association allows all inter- cations as the openADR standard which
as the supply of grid services, and more. ested parties to participate in the fur- is widely used in the United States.
The open source system eases the ther development of the EMS and to use
financial burden on manufacturers, giv- it for their projects. According to Christof Jury comments
ing them the chance to offer grid ancil- Wiedmann, board member of OpenEMS
lary services from their products, while and Head of Sales at Fenecon, OpenEMS Xavier Daval: “The open source concept
not neglecting their core business. is not just another standard added to is welcome to improve adaptability of
existing energy management and house EMS.”
automation standards. “None of these
Photo: Baywa r.e.
existing standards cover all fields, and Julian Jansen: “In a highly competitive
OpenEMS wants to use and integrate energy storage market, the development
existing standards and focus particularly of an open protocol to standardize energy
on the energy management in the grid management and enable the aggregation
which allows for business models with of systems from different suppliers is not
grid services,” he says. The jurors want to only welcome, but will drive the advance-
acknowledge this project’s importance in ment of business models targeting ancil-
creating a standard. It is even more than a lary services markets.”
4
Trina Solar
27 microgrids for the Maldives
I slands have been a market for solar and
battery storage for some time, Trina
Solar now presents an electrification
bined capacity of 2.6 MW. The battery
storage units have a combined capacity of
2.6 MWh. In the second phase, Trinabess
on average a kilowatt hour from a diesel
genset costs $0.70.
project that takes a particularly holistic is installing a further 2.3 MW of PV, and Jury comments
approach. 1.5 MWh of storage on 13 islands. It says
The Maldives are a group of islands the advantage of the new microgrids is Florian Mayr: “Microgrids on islands
with a total area similar to that of Scot- not only that 2.6 million liters of diesel often make economic sense today and
land, but a combined land area only as are saved yearly, but also that the grid can help to deliver insights for applica-
large as the city of Edinburgh. This poses is more robust and costs fall, given that tions on the mainland as well.”
challenges for electrification, as an indi-
vidual microgrid has to be planned for
Photo: Trina Solar
each of the islands, which are not con-
nected to each other.
Trina’s microgrids project spans 14
islands. Trinabess, the energy storage
division of the company, designed and
installed the project.
Given the limited land available, the
systems are distributed over multiple
rooftops. The smallest array is 60 kWp
and the largest 330 kWp – for a com-
6 02 / 2019 | pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage Europe
Advertisement
5
MAN Energy Solutions
Thermoelectric
energy storage
E nergy storage systems are no lon-
ger a novelty, and neither are facil-
ities powered by electricity for heating
The electricity could then be used for
peak shaving. Alternatively, the solu-
tion could be interesting for offtakers
and cooling. If a device can do both at that require large amounts of heat, cool-
the same time, and also convert ther- ing, and electricity – like data centers, for
mal energy back into electricity, such as example.
the Electro-Thermal Energy Storage Sys- MAN Energy Solutions is currently
tem (ETES), things become a little more marketing the solution and is pursuing
interesting. leads for the first pilot plant.
“With this approach, we are break- The majority of the facili-
ing down the existing silo mentality,” ties so far have a power output of
explains Roberto Rubichi, Communica- 15 MW and thermal storage capac-
tions and Marketing Manager at MAN ity of between 10 MWh and more than
Energy Solutions. 1,000 MWh. Heat can be dissipated POWER-BLOX
Electricity, heat, and cooling are no between 40 and 120°C, while cooling can
longer treated separately, but become be dissipated between 0 and 10°C. Plug’n Power off-grid
parts of a single overarching energy man-
agement system. In this process, ETES
functions as a bridge between the elec-
Jury comments storage solution
tricity supply, and heat and cooling sup- Florian Mayr: “Breaking the silo mental-
ply markets. ity of the power, transport, and heat sec- Power-Blox is revolutionizing the off-grid
The stored cooling and heat from ETES tors is highly relevant for industry and energy market by opening up new ways and
can be distributed to different types of the energy transition. Furthermore, the means for independent power generation.
consumer. concept contains various relevant tech-
For instance, heat can be transferred nological innovations.”
The innovative principle not only allows for
to district heating, the food processing
industry, and laundry facilities. Julian Jansen: “The MAN solution cuts simple expansion of capacity and perfor-
Applications for the cooling, mean- across traditional industry boundar- mance, but also applies intelligent swarm
while, include data centers, ice hockey ies and enables effective sector-coupling technology when connecting several units
or skating arenas, or air conditioning for by combining heat, cold, and electricity up to the Kilowatt range.
skyscrapers. storage.”
Each Power-Blox unit can be charged
by photovoltaic modules, wind or other
Chart: MAN Energy Solutions
generators. Thanks to its design and
user-friendliness, it is perfectly suitable for
areas of application where flexibility and
ease of use are essential.
www.staubli-alternative-energies.com
The storage system also converts thermal energy into electrical energy during
discharge.
pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage Europe | 02 / 2019 Staubli is a trademark of Stäubli International AG, registered in Switzerland and other
countries. © Stäubli 2019 | Photocredits: Shutterstock 123732148, Stäubli
Highlights
6
ZAE Bayern
Cooling accumulators in fridges help shift loads
F ridges and freezers require energy
in recurring intervals throughout
the day to maintain their temperature.
According to estimates from ZAE
Bayern, around 1-2 GW of load could
be shifted flexibly, if just half of Ger-
This, however, doesn’t always have to be many’s fridges deployed thermal stor-
provided at precisely the moment of the age like that of the ZAE Bayern solution.
appliance’s choosing. In the future, the technology could also
A team of researchers at ZAE Bay- be used in supermarkets or cold storage
ern has developed a new approach. The warehouses.
team has come up with a freezer/fridge
that deploys thermal storage made from a Jury comments
phase change material (PCM). The PCM
Photo: ZAE Bayern
in this case is a saline solution that freezes Rolf Heynen: “With the number of freez-
at -20°C. It can maintain a constant tem- The phase changing material in ers deployed, it would have an enormous
perature for around seven hours, without fridges turns the appliances into a impact – to use them to shift the load to
the need for additional energy. flexibility resource. balance the grid would have a big impact.
The PCM means that the fridge could It is therefore a system innovation.”
be switched off overnight to save energy Thermal storage in this way is com-
and be switched on again during sun- paratively cheap, but suffers from similar Mark Higgins: “It is appealing that this
light hours. Another use case is the avoid- efficiency degradation and self-discharg- solution allows a shift in energy consump-
ance of ‘charging’ the fridge during peak ing effects that other storage technologies tion without any behavioral change.”
demand hours. struggle with.
7
Fraunhofer IKTS
Ceramic high temperature battery works with liquid salt
and sodium
T he Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic
Technologies and Systems (IKTS)
developed a ceramic high temperature
ing temperature for the system. The bat-
tery has minimal thermal self-discharg-
ing, but is well insulated to minimize this
charge rate of 0.5C. Accordingly, this
type of battery is not suitable for elec-
tric mobility, despite it being the origi-
battery “cerenergy” for stationary stor- effect. The high temperature battery cells nal intended application.
age systems. A ceramic pipe, which works feature an energy content of 130 Wh/kg, Costs below €500 for the battery sys-
as the solid electrolyte, contains molten but a comparatively slow charge and dis- tem allow application at scale – particu-
salt of sodium chloride and nickel chlo- larly to store renewable energy. Further
ride, working as the cathode. With volt- possibilities are peak shaving, continu-
Photo: Fraunhofer IKTS
age applied, the electrolyte allows sodium ity of feed-in supply, or backup power, as
ions to pass. These accumulate in the these batteries have a fast reaction time.
outer layers of the molten sodium, which
works as the anode. All of the materials Jury comments
used in the system are cheap and read-
ily available, according to IKTS. There- Xavier Daval: “Potentially a low-cost
fore, the price for cells, when produced alternative based on a basic material.”
at scale, is forecast at below €100/kWh.
The transport of the sodium ions Florian Mayr: “Commercialization is
through the electrolyte only start at tem- too far down the road, while the targeted
peratures above 200°C. Good perfor- system-level price point at production
mance begins at temperatures of 270°C seems to be in the range of today’s flow
to 300°C, which is the constant operat- batteries.”
8 02 / 2019 | pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage EuropeHighlights
8
Skeleton Technologies
Supercapacitors – fast and powerful
S upercapacitors are well suited to the
provision of high power for very
short times, and they can be charged up
174 kW renewables portfolio. A lead-acid
battery storage system helps to balance
fluctuations in generation.
ally boosts range, but did improve perfor-
mance and efficiency of the battery. Fur-
thermore, the combination also allowed
to one million times. However, in the event of a very sud- operation of the battery in a less strenu-
Skeleton Technologies has high power den peak load, a brownout of several ous way, increasing its lifespan by 40%.
industrial cells (Skelcap) and modules seconds can occur. After this, the bat- The jurors see that this is a “useful
(Skelmod) in its portfolio. The company tery requires several minutes before it application with small overall market
says that it has developed and patented a can resume normal operation, says Oliv- segment targeted”. Another notes that
manufacturing process by which it can ier Chabilan of Skeleton Technologies. To it is unclear whether prolonging battery
produce curved graphene. The material give the battery time to slowly reboot, the life justifies additional investment in a
boosts the voltage inside the cell to more local energy provider deploys flywheels supercapacitor.
than 2.85 V. This increases the energy and and the supercapacitors of Skeleton. Only
power density of supercapacitors. The the supercapacitors, however, are fast Photo: Skeleton Technologies
product also features a very low series enough to ensure that changes between
resistance, which in turn reduces heat the energy sources go unnoticed.
build-up. The Scottish island of Eigg is Also, the combination of supercapaci-
an example of where the Skelcap/Skel- tors with lithium-ion batteries is a good
mod energy package could be deployed. match. A study on supercapacitors, pub-
The island with its 100 inhabitants is not lished in the journal Energy in 2012,
connected to the mainland U.K. grid, and showed that a hybrid system combining
covers its electricity demand through a the two technologies in vehicles margin-
9
DNV GL
Keeping score of battery performance
D NV GL has released its first annual
Battery Performance Scorecard, to
provide advice to product buyers. The
verifiable data with independent engi-
neering reviews.
In its current form, the scorecard eval-
ers request information on each battery
type from the manufacturers, to review
the product in an independent engineer-
testing and certification body says that uates battery systems on several criteria. ing report.
the new scorecard can independently At first DNV examines whether the aver- This process can take several months.
rank and evaluate battery products. age state of charge (SOC) is optimal for This time can be reduced through the
The scorecard aids the energy storage performance. Furthermore, the scien- independent scorecard, and hence accel-
market by providing transparent, easily tists look at which SOC window shows erate the industry.
the best performance for each product.
Additional factors include the battery Jury comments
Photo: DNV GL
C-rate (the rate at which a battery is dis-
charged relative to its maximum capac- Xavier Daval: “Our industry needs inde-
ity), as well as the product’s temperature pendent point of view frameworks to sup-
behavior. Of the batteries tested, 88% port a sound development.”
were based on lithium-ion nickel man-
ganese cobalt chemistry. Logan Goldie Scott: “The scorecard is a
Hitherto, the level of battery lifetime crucial first step in helping differentiate
data available to buyers was often varied between battery technologies and ulti-
and inconsistent, which is precisely the mately providers on quality. This opaque
gap the scorecard aims to fill. Accord- industry needs it.”
ing to DNV GL investors or develop-
pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage Europe | 02 / 2019 9Highlights
10
Proton Motor
Fuel cell provides real year-round self sufficiency
P roton Motor delivered its hydrogen
fuel cell to the world’s first entirely
self-sufficient, multi-family home in
PV system mounted on its facades, total-
ing 126 kW, or 90,000 to 105,000 kWh per
year, for the nine families living in the
for a solution that becomes increasingly
viable at larger scales. When increasing
the production numbers, the cost for the
Brütten, Switzerland in the summer of unit. electrolyzer would fall to a quarter. The
2016. The electrolyzer uses 14.5 kW to The building’s energy consumption cost target was hydrogen production at
produce 2 Nm³/h of hydrogen. In total, was 2,200 kWh per housing unit a year, between €2 to €3/kg.
the system can hold 120,000 liters of which is about half the Swiss average. The Each tenant receives an energy bud-
hydrogen. company also stresses that its system sur- get included in their rent. When this is
The fuel cell by Proton Motor produces vived its first winter, even though it was exceeded, they incur an additional fee,
6.2 kW of electrical power and 5.5 kW of the coldest in the region in 30 years, and while staying below the budget results
thermal power. the one featuring the fewest hours of sun- in a financial reward. According to the
The electricity is transferred to the shine in 20 years. project leader Umwelt Arena Schweiz, the
battery systems using the fuel cell’s inte- The building features an array of rent is at the higher end of the scale for
grated power electronics. The heat is dis- energy storage technologies, including the region.
sipated to heat pumps for space and water battery storage, a hydrogen electrolyzer,
heating. and a hydrogen tank, as well a long-term Jury comments
Project leader Umwelt Arena Schweiz thermal storage tank. The combination
argues that using excess heat from elec- of these long and short-term storage sys- Rolf Heynen: “These sort of pilots go far
tricity production enables efficiencies tems enables round-the-clock and round- beyond 60% or 70% autarky and there-
above 90% during winter months. Dur- the-year energy supply, without the need fore they contribute more to the learning
ing summer when heating is reduced for any electrical grid or gas supply curve on the system side.”
or not needed at all, efficiency ranges connections.
between 18% and 19%. The project was supported with pub- Xavier Daval: “The usage of multiple
A 79 kW rooftop PV system powers lic funding. According to the company, storage and renewable technologies is
the house, alongside a 46 kW thin film it demonstrates the technical feasibility interesting.”
Photo: Umweltarena/Proton Motors
10 02 / 2019 | pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage EuropeHighlights
Fraunhofer IGB
Chemical plant at wind park can replace petroleum products
F raunhofer Institute for Interfa-
cial Engineering and Biotechnol-
ogy (IGB) presents a solution which can
Csepei’s team has developed a tech-
nology that can transform methanol
into more valuable products. The pro-
acid, and long chain terpenes. Isoprenes
can be processed into high energy fuels.
Other by-products can be used in rubber
turn water and CO2 into hydrocarbons. cess involves feeding methanol to a plastics or in the food and fodder indus-
This would allow an important chemical Methylobacterium, which produces iso- tries. Csespei says that their market value
industry to switch to renewable energy. prene, lactic acid, polyhydroxybutyric lies between €1,100 and €5,000 per met-
Like in a power-to-gas facility, the ric ton, As a result, small-scale produc-
process starts with the production of Photo: Fraunhofer IGB tion at distributed assets would be viable.
hydrogen through electrolyzation using The project is supported by the European
a renewable energy feed stock, such as Commission and the state of Bavaria.
power from a wind turbine. Methanol
can then be produced by routing a mix- Jury comments
ture of hydrogen and carbon dioxide
through a copper-based catalyst. Metha- Mark Higgins: “Very interesting and
nol is already a valuable staple for chem- potentially valuable technology for the
ical production. But since it is produced energy transition.”
at industrial scale, small facilities are not
lucrative, says Lénárd-Istvan Csepei, who Florian Mayr: “Specific relevance for
is responsible for chemical energy storage storage industry not clear, but poten-
and bioelectrical and chemical catalysis tially very relevant for CO2 valorization.”
at Fraunhofer IGB in Germany.
Ecovolta
Medium-sized car brands can enter e-mobility with traction battery
M any large car manufacturers
have already decided to estab-
lish their own battery production. Many
has already undergone all relevant certi-
fication and security standards processes,
which are required for applications in
tionary battery systems, second-life use
cases are planned for the future.
According to Ecovolta, the battery low-
smaller manufacturers, however, lack the vehicles. Through the company’s second ers the investment barrier to enter into
resources to follow suit. For such compa- branch, Ecocoach, which develops sta- the e-mobility market by up to €500,000.
nies, Ecovolta has developed an offer: a
standardized modular and scalable bat-
tery named the evoTractionBattery. The
product was conceived for auto manufac-
Photo: Ecovolta
turers with a throughput of up to 2,000
vehicles per year, for example municipal-
ity-owned utility vehicles, road sweep-
ers, golf carts, forklifts, or boats. Other
options are buses or trucks which need
extra battery capacity for use in moun-
tainous regions.
The batteries comprise lithium-ion
cells and have a capacity of between 2.5
and 15 kWh. Modules can be intercon-
nected in series or in parallel for further
scalability. Contrary to many other bat-
teries on the market, Ecovolta’s product
pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage Europe | 02 / 2019 11Highlights
Fronius
Three phase, high voltage storage, plus emergency power
F ronius describes the unique feature of
its residential solar+storage inverter,
Fronius Symo Hybrid as the only device
BYD battery sized at between 6.4 and 11.5
kWh. The emergency power function in
an electronic device necessitates the use
gency power. Fronius developed a circuit
that excludes the neutral conductor from
the current when emergency power is not
which uses technology from Chinese bat- of a neutral conductor. This can negatively required. Given this, the Fronius inverter
tery manufacturer BYD, operates three- affect efficiency by around 0.2 to 0.3%, and delivers the same efficiency if it had no
phase, and can provide emergency power. for this reason others don’t offer emer- emergency power functionality.
Consequently, it is worth a closer look.
Low-voltage residential storage systems
Photo:: Fronius
with emergency power supply have been
available for several years. And for some
time, high-voltage systems have become
more common, since using the battery at
higher voltages improves efficiency.
Competitors have launched battery
inverters specifically designed for BYD’s
high voltage battery, which is said to be
economically attractive. Some are AC-
coupled, one phase and provide emergency
power. Others are three-phase DC-cou-
pled systems which cannot. The DC-cou-
pled Fronius device can do both, with a
Xelectric Power GmbH
Xelectric Powerbox – a fire resistant multipurpose battery
R ising costs of energy, grid taxes,
and partially insufficient grid sup-
Additionally, the Xelectric Powerbox
can provide three-phase backup and
Photo: Xelectrix
ply: These are just some of the key driv- function as an uninterruptible power
ers for businesses to install energy stor- supply.
age systems. Since the inverter works in parallel
Austria-based battery storage com- to the grid, it can easily combine grid
pany Xelectrix Power GmbH has power, on-site renewable energy genera-
launched a multipurpose modular stor- tion, and energy from the storage system
age system for utilities, commercial and to provide higher power availability for
industrial customers, construction sites, the customer, without the need for grid
and essentially all on and off-grid appli- expansion.
cations. The capacity of the system ranges With increasing EV uptake in the com-
between 20 kWh and 2.4 MWh and its mercial sector, this solution will become
power between 12 kW and 1 MW. more and more important, the company
The company says that its unique bidi- states.
rectional hybrid inverter is key to the sys- In addition to making available more
tem’s ability to provide multiple use cases power for a company and reducing the
in a single piece of equipment. The sys- energy bills by avoiding peak demand,
tem can, for example, provide peak shav- the storage system also features a self-
ing for businesses, but also be used for extinguishing system, which sets a new
reactive current compensation, as well as bar for fire safety in lithium-ion battery
voltage and frequency control. systems.
12 02 / 2019 | pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage EuropeHighlights
Kaco New Energy
Bidirectional battery inverter for C&I storage
I nverters are in a unique position in the the BG50 inverter, a plethora of battery
Photo: Kaco New Energy
energy system, as they connect various management communication protocols
actors, like batteries, consumers, pro- had been developed already. The goal was
sumers, and utilities. This has played out to allow system integrators to use their
to the effect that inverters have increas- existing energy management system pro-
ingly started to take on energy man- tocol to operate the inverters.
agement tasks, resulting in the equip- According to Kaco, the solution was
ment often being dubbed the ‘brain’ of developed with public utilities, distribu-
the energy system. With the blueplanet tion system operators, EPCs, and large
gridsave 50.0 storage inverter, Kaco New businesses with grid management in
Energy has stripped the inverter of any mind. Such enterprises would often have
proprietary communication protocols, their protocol standards ready.
and so dubbed its new inverter the ‘mus- Developing a proprietary protocol
cle’ of an energy storage system. would have ensured that such a protocol
The inverter uses the standardized was compatible with other existing ones.
Sunspec communication protocol. Kaco By using the Sunspec standard this could a single high-capacity battery. According
claims that due to the lack of a propri- be avoided. to the company, the modular approach
etary protocol, the system is compati- Kaco’s blueplanet gridsave 50.0 kW makes it possible to deploy the BG50 stor-
ble with a large range of energy manage- inverter can be interconnected in parallel age inverter in energy storage systems of
ment systems, thus increasing its range on the DC side. This allows for a system multiple sizes in commercial and indus-
of application. At the time of developing design that connects several inverters to trial installations.
REFU Elektronik GmbH
Modular battery inverter provides more C&I flexibility
T o accommodate the demand for
fast charging and discharging of
industrial-scale battery storage systems,
more units in parallel on the AC side.
The company says that clustering smaller
units simplifies battery and inverter
with the correct cabling layout. The power
unit is then mounted onto the connection
box once all of the cabling is completed.
integrators have often used central PV cabling and increases system reliabil-
inverter designs. According to inverter ity. Additionally, with the use of multi-
manufacturer Refu, this conflicts with ple smaller units, each battery rack can be
a system’s design flexibility, price, bat- controlled, charged, and discharged sep-
Photo: REFU Elektronik GmbH
tery control, and ease of installation. For arately. This allows for improved battery
applications between 60 kW and 1 MW, management and thus a longer lifetime
central inverters may be oversized or not of the system.
fit appropriately. According to Refu, system integrators
Therefore, the company launched its are faced with a great diversity of cus-
battery inverter, REFUstore 88K, to pro- tomer requirements, like DC and AC
vide the possibility for a wall-mounted fuses, switches, surge protection devices,
and scalable power conversion unit. or pre-charge circuits. To be able to meet
The unit’s power density is rated at this variety at a competitive price point,
1.3 kW/kg. A wide DC voltage window Refu says that it has reduced the design
from 280 VDC up to 900 VDC, enables effort, by deploying a flexible and mod-
the device to be used for new as well as ular system. This was achieved by man-
second-life battery applications. ufacturing the connection box and the
Furthermore, the inverter can be used power unit separately. For the installa-
in small and large systems by adding tion, the connection box can be selected
pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage Europe | 02 / 2019 13Highlights
Hoppecke
Scalable turnkey solution for storage
W ith its latest offering, Germany’s
Hoppecke aims to provide a turn-
key battery energy storage solution, and
a standardized system designed to limit
the costs arising from project-specific
configurations and planning. The sys-
tem could easily be scaled for projects up
to 500 kWh.
Photos: Hoppecke
The sun systemizer scalebloc is a com-
plete battery energy storage system, to be
sold as a turnkey solution.
Each unit comprises a 60 kWh lithium- Scalebloc is AC-coupled with black
ion battery, 30 kW battery inverter, inte- start and island mode capabilities, and
grated cooling system and an outdoor comes with cloud connection, which
housing cabinet with IP55 protection. Hoppecke says will enable the customer
The batteries in Hoppecke’s system are to easily operate, manage, and service the
based on nickel manganese cobalt chem- system.
istry, and a standardized 19-inch battery Hoppecke says that the systemizer
module. scalebloc is still currently in the devel-
According to Hoppecke, the system opment phase. However, it notes that
has a wide range of potential applica- initial field test customers have been
tions, including e-mobility infrastruc- identified and that plans on the service
ture, local stationary storage, peak shav- and manufacturing side are also under
ing, and various off-grid applications. development.
Raycap
Safe and sound surge protection
Photo: Raycap
W ith the ProBloc B 1000 DC, the
United States-headquartered com-
pany Raycap will release a surge protec-
(TOV). Here the product offers safety up
to 1,000 VDC.
On top of this, the application stands
tive device (SPD) universally suitable for out in that it offers a protection level of
e-mobility applications.Highlights
E3/DC
Solar, storage, and optimized energy management, coupled with
behavioral incentives in alpine apartment living
I n May 2018, the SonnenparkPLUS,
housing up to 10 families, opened in
Wetzikon, Switzerland. The building fea-
guides the building’s appliances to con-
sume in a solar-optimized manner. Elec-
tricity produced on the rooftop array is
“We have a superior building envelope:
We use highly efficient heating and ven-
tilation systems,” explains arento AG’s
tures an 81 kW PV system mounted to first of all used to generate heat, and cool owner Franz Schnider. “Additionaly, we
its roof and facades. Combined with a the building using high efficiency heat train our customers in terms of energy
78 kWh battery storage system provided pumps. At the same time, the battery is consumption.”
by E3/DC, the building is said to be 63% charged with PV power, enabling grid The house features an EV which
self-sufficient. The 1,705 m² area requires independent operation even after the sun is available to the residents to share
65,000 kWh, of which 15,000 kWh alone goes down. As a third priority, the system via an app. The car is charged using a
are needed for heat pumps. feeds into the grid. This means that the 22 kW charger, which is also fed by the
During the summer months, the build- residents are advised to perform appli- PV and storage system. The building fea-
ing is effectively self-sufficient and even ance-based chores during daylight hours, tures only one meter point connected to
feeds energy back into the grid. During to make the best use of the PV electricity the grid operator, to calculate loads that
Switzerland’s cold winter season, how- from the rooftop. had been fed into the grid or consumed.
ever, this degree of self-sufficiency can- The project was designed by Swiss Inside the building, electricity costs for
not be maintained. The behavior of the architects firm arento AG. The approach household and mobility are calculated
building’s residents also plays an impor- is described as holistic, by combining on a household basis using individual
tant role. ecological building materials, energy meters. Sustainable usage profiles, which
The SonnenparkPLUS storage and efficiency, and renewable energy. The first maximize self-consumption then pay off
energy management system is central priority was to design the house in a way for the individual tenant, providing an
to its high level of self-sufficiency, as it that consumes as little energy as possible. incentive for such behavior.
Photo: arento AG
pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage Europe | 02 / 2019 15Highlights
Tesvolt
Municipal storage and self-sufficient living quarters
I n the first of two projects Tesvolt
wishes to highlight, the company co-
located a 4 MWh battery system with a
Even when outside temperatures are a
scorching 50°C, the trailers could be kept
at a comfortable 25°C. During the day the
The storage system has a capacity of
28.8 kWh, and 6.5 kW of power. Tesvolt
says one of the advantages of its system
7.4 MW solar plant in Westhampnett, in trailer is used as an office, and as a sleep- is the minimal space requirement of the
the U.K. According to the company, it is ing quarters at night. prismatic battery cells the company uses.
the first solar+storage installation oper-
ated by a local council in the country.
Photo: Tesvolt
The PV plant is also among the first in
the U.K. that can operate without subsi-
dies. The storage system earns its keep
via price arbitrage, frequency services,
capacity market payments, and minimiz-
ing consumption during peak periods.
Tesvolt’s second project is aimed at
improving living conditions for con-
struction workers in the Middle East.
Consolidated Contractor Company
developed a trailer for workers. Despite
working off-grid, the trailer can be sup-
plied with round-the-clock air condition-
ing thanks to its PV and battery system.
H-TEC Systems
Regional sector integration with green hydrogen mobility project
P roject developer eFarming GmbH &
Co. KG is establishing a first-of its
kind mobility infrastructure in the Ger-
H-TEC Systems supplied five of its
ME 100/350 PEM electrolyzers, to be co-
located with five existing wind farms, to
It is also possible to dissipate the pro-
cess heat from hydrogen production
through the local heat supply.
man coastal region of North Frisia. The the project. Units are enclosed in 20 foot The system produces hydrogen accord-
project aims to provide green hydrogen to (6.1 meter) containers, giving flexibility ing to the SAE J2719 standard for use in
local public and private transport. with regards to location. fuel cell vehicles, and delivers the hydro-
gen at a pressure of 30 bar. This enables
direct further utilization via storage,
Photo: H-TEC SYSTEMS
transport, and fuel. At a nominal elec-
trical load of 225 kW each, the five elec-
trolyzers will produce a total of up to
500 kilograms per day, allowing up to
17 hydrogen-powered buses to be fuelled
daily. The coastal region in Germany,
with a high penetration of wind power,
is facing increasing congestion in its elec-
trical grid, and feed-in tariffs are coming
to an end for the local pioneers of wind
power. Such an integral project approach
could be the role model for deployment
in various locations to promote regional
self-sufficiency.
16 02 / 2019 | pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage EuropeTechnology
Quality assurance in a
dynamic supply chain
As in many other dynamically developing industries, quality assurance practices are key to decreasing investor risk.
Moreover, Asian battery manufacturers already have, or are still developing, capabilities for system integration
at attractive costs, as George Touloupas, Director of Technology & Quality at CEA, and Nicholas Ogilvie, Storage
Analyst, point out. They have investigated the complex path of the supply chain for lithium-ion battery energy
storage systems (BESS) and the capabilities and capacities of the leading companies, detailed in a market
intelligence report.
T he growth of the BESS sector, which
is still taking its baby steps, is pre-
dicted to be spectacular. Bloomberg NEF
sheet to support BESS projects during the
first years of the sector. In previous years,
and to a large extent even at present, the
recently revised its forecasts for the next so-called tier-1 manufacturers, predomi-
two decades and is now talking terawatt nantly Japanese and South Korean enter-
hours and hundreds of billions of dol- prises, led the market. Companies such as
lars. As with all things related to new Samsung SDI, LG Chem, SK Innovation,
energy, the sky might end up being the Panasonic/Tesla, and BYD (a Chinese
limit, as learning curves keep acceler- vertically integrated player and auto-
ating and new technologies gain wider maker) invested heavily in battery cell
acceptance within the energy and finance production early on, with the ultimate
communities. goal of dominating the global EV bat-
In a sense, stationary storage is a by- tery market. Stationary storage is a small
product of the e-mobility revolution, fraction of their output, and the high
thriving on its massive scale and inno- investment in R&D and factories needed
vation focus centered on the lithium- to produce batteries could only be trig-
ion battery. This is the key reason why gered by EVs. With China ramping up
other storage technologies, such as flow EV adoption, new domestic players, such
batteries, hot batteries, compressed air, as CATL, have catapulted themselves to Clean Energy Associates (CEA) is a North
and flywheels, to name but a few, have the top in just a few years, dwarfing their American-owned solar PV and battery
not managed to keep up with the rapid incumbent rivals. The tier-1 supplier list storage quality assurance, supply chain
development of the lithium-ion battery of tomorrow may end up looking very management, and engineering services
sector (pumped hydro is an exception, different to the tier-1 list of today. firm, with a >35 GW track record of projects.
but, for several reasons, is not included It is led by an experienced management
in the report). After all, there is no way Supply bottlenecks team with a combined >200 years of PV and
you could fit these within a car frame! The scaling up of renewable energy and battery storage business experience, and it is
Tier-1 is a problematic term, but every- the gradual realization of the strategic supported by >45 engineers, who help solve
one should agree that only a handful of role storage can have in firming and sta- a broad array of clients’ needs to reduce
battery suppliers had the technology, bilizing the grid have led to a slow but, technical and financial risk, and to increase
scale, and, most importantly, the balance eventually sizable increase in demand. system performance and reliability.
pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage Europe | 02 / 2019 17Technology
Lithium-ion cell manufacturing capacity, GWh per year
Supplier X
BYD
Supplier 1
Panasonic / Tesla
Samsung SDI
Supplier 2
Supplier 3
Supplier 4
Supplier 5
Supplier 6
Supplier 7
Supplier 8
Supplier 9
Supplier 10 Yearly expansions
LG Chem * 2017
Supplier 11 2018
Supplier 12 2019
Supplier 13 2020
Supplier 14 2021
Supplier 15 Source: CEA
Supplier 16
* Energy division 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
However, the incumbent tier-1 battery turers led to cell price increases in 2018.
suppliers never had a strong focus on sta- The majority of these tier-1 suppliers have
tionary storage, and have been unwilling no further availability until mid-2019.
to bet on anything other than EV growth. Furthermore, only large product orders
As a result, recent bottlenecks in the sup- will be considered beyond this date,
ply chain for tier-1 battery cell manufac- and additionally, there are other impor-
tant market trends that will also impact
availabilities.
BESS Supplier Market The main cause behind this cell sup-
ply shortage is the large and sudden
Intelligence report
growth in both the South Korean and
Japanese domestic BESS markets. South
Korea conservatively expects to add sev-
CEA’s BESS Supplier Market Intel- The report also attempts to shed eral gigawatt hours per year over the
ligence report aims to provide light on both the safety and risk next three years, encouraged by gener-
insights into the global BESS supply factors present within the BESS sup- ous government subsidies offering man-
chain and intends to help buyers ply chain, with two deep dives that ufacturers lucrative short-term, high-
diversify their sources and avoid highlight risks within the BESS sup- margin projects. In fact, in 2018 the
supply bottlenecks. ply chain. The first investigates the BESS volume in South Korea has likely
The focus is to introduce a selection raw material supply chain covering surpassed 7 GWh, making it the lead-
of both market-leading players and cobalt, lithium, nickel, and graphite. ing global installer of BESS. Similarly,
newcomers within the battery cell, Aside from the thorny issues associ- in Japan, as the residential feed-in-tariff
module, power conditioning system ated with the ethical supply chain expires for 500,000 households in 2019,
(PCS), and BESS integration supply for cobalt, we also investigate other another large opportunity arises for bat-
chain. potential bottlenecks in supply, tery deployments due to the lack of a net
The report investigates over 30 sup- including raw material processing. metering policy, as well as self-consump-
pliers and provides an overview of Finally, we lay out the fundamentals tion becoming an attractive application.
their history, technologies, manu- of the BESS manufacturing process
Another constraint these suppliers
facturing capacities, international and highlight why in-factory quality
have, especially the South Koreans, is
after sales service and track record, assurance through audits, produc-
that their battery cell, module, and BESS
collaborations and partnerships, tion monitoring, and factory accep-
manufacturing arms often only represent
and research and development tance testing is key to reducing risk
activities. in BESS projects. a small portion of their parent group rev-
enues, and this weighs heavily on their
ability to draw funding for expansion.
18 02 / 2019 | pv magazine in cooperation with Energy Storage EuropeYou can also read
