1. Twickenham Stadium, London 28 April 2016
http://storage.solarenergyevents.com
Currently the electric vehicle has the ‘range
anxiety’ issue but for most people it’s not
really a problem as they only drive 20-30
miles a day yet they want to make certain
their battery is always charged even though it
may be able to do 250 miles per charge.
The energy industry can now use these fast
charging and extremely efficient batteries
that have been developed by the car industry
to store electricity and perform other
functions. Tesla was the first to demonstrate
this by setting up an energy division which
benefits from the R&D in the car division.
Costs are coming down
Storage so far has developed like the solar
industry did: battery prices are coming down
as a result of mass-production. Solar
demonstrated this when manufacturing
reached multi- gigawatt scale and prices came
down rapidly - and they’re still falling.
Battery prices are not where they need to be
yet but the prediction is a steep decline in the
next two years which will have a steeper cost-
curve than solar did.
2-years ago a domestic storage system made
by a manufacturer which included an
integrated inverter was £6,000. Last year it
Energy storage buyers’ guide
Jo-Anne Duff from Solar Media talks to Ray Noble, Solar and Energy Storage Advisor to the
REA. Over many years, Ray has advised many solar companies across the world, including
manufacturers, installers and developers. Ray continues to give advice to both commercial and
public sector customers.
How is battery technology maturing?
The electronics industry; mobile phone and
computer companies have developed
lithium-ion batteries which are very small
but store large quantities of energy. In turn
of course the motor industry realised
lithium-ion batteries can be used in cars;
they don’t weigh too much and with them,
you can produce electric vehicles that can
do reasonable speeds.
Lessons from the motor industry
The Nissan Leaf, showed what you could do,
it opened up the market. Tesla also changed
the game when they produced an electric
sports car which could do 260-miles on one
charge. This shows that electric vehicles can
compete with petrol engine cars.
Now every car manufacturer is producing
electric vehicles and all of them work with
lithium-ion batteries. The investment made
by battery manufacturers and the motor
industry has been huge so the performance
and efficiency of the batteries has increased
dramatically as well.
‘Diesel-gate’ forced people to think about
the pollution that comes from cars, and that
the monitoring in place is lacklustre. As a
result car manufacturers are increasing the
rate at which they’re bringing electric cars
to the market. Predictions for the number of
electric vehicles by 2030 are increasing
dramatically so the rate of price reduction
will increase. It’s a moving target all the
time so it’s very difficult to say where prices
will be, only that they are going down very
rapidly.
Improvements in EV range and charging
speeds
If you take the Nissan Leaf as an example, it
came out too early as far as the battery
manufacturers were concerned. It only had
an 80-90 mile range but it now has a range
of 155 miles with the same size battery size
and weight
Most cars will now have a range of at least
200 miles and a lot of the more powerful
cars will have up to 350 miles from one
charge. In the past you’d have to charge for
8 hours but now it can be as quick as 15
minutes for fast charging batteries.
was £4,000 and yesterday it was £3,200 so
prices are changing very quickly.
So anyone that wants to do a storage project
now should think of it as a pilot project to
understand the technology and see what it
can do for you. Or, alternatively, if you want to
improve your green credentials. In 2 years’
time it should be possible to make your
business case work for a larger rollout and by
then, you would have benefitted from the
knowledge gained from the pilot.
Since prices are changing so rapidly it’s very
hard to say how much a system should cost
today or in 3 months, a year…so you just need
to be very careful. It’s so easy for someone to
install it and add a few thousand on to the bill.
It is important to stick to accredited installers
who should be monitored by the
manufacturing company of the product
they’re installing. More on that later.
How long will the battery last?
It depends on how you use it. The cycling of
batteries is complicated but the beauty of
lithium-ion batteries is that you can drain the
energy down to nothing with no ill effects
whereas, with lead acid, doing that would
destroy it.

2. Twickenham Stadium, London 28 April 2016
http://storage.solarenergyevents.com
Table 1: What to look for as a buyer
Find out what you need from the equipment and what to expect.
The message is about shifting available energy from generation point to use point where it would have the most benefit to you. The most common use
will be moving electricity just a few hours and using it at night time so, in effect, keeping the lights on.
You need to ensure you work with a bankable company:
If you’re buying a system, you need to know that the warranty you are given is something that will still be viable in 10-years’ time if there is a failure.
How can I ensure quality in what I buy?
Lithium-ion batteries have been developed and improved because of the motor industry. It’s the same supply chain as to the (quality and safety conscious)
motor industry therefore if someone provides a battery to BMW for example, that would provide a certain amount of reassurance as to the quality.
How can I be sure the installation will be good? With solar there is the MCS (Micro-generation Certification Scheme) system to protect consumers. The
companies who are providing batteries will not want anyone affecting their brand negatively and these companies are setting up distribution networks
and training installers who must be accredited and kept up-to-speed with the technology. The technology moves very quickly so make sure your installer is
certified for the particular brand of storage they’re installing and trained by the manufacturer. If they can’t prove this information then you don’t want to
use them. The system must be installed correctly – for example energy must go through the meter if you have a PV system installed and you want to claim
the Feed-in Tariff.
If you’re buying a battery, it shouldn’t be
thought of as only a battery. You’re buying a
system, you need to have the electronics to
go with it to control what goes in and out
and to guarantee its lifespan, this will enable
you to get a suitable warranty, which is
essential.
Developing a business case
To develop a business case it really depends
on how much energy you want to store and
why are you storing it. For example, are you
protecting something like a fridge-freezer?
Or could you use it to change the way you’re
being billed?
As an example if you look at half-hourly
metering where you pay more for your
energy between 4:30 and 7:30 than the rest
of the day or night. You can monitor your
requirements in those hours so that you can
accurately size the battery. If you have solar
on-site you could divert surplus energy for
usage at a later time. This electricity can then
be used when electricity costs are higher. It’s
important to think about your business usage
now and how it might change in the future.
Other income streams
For the rest of the time, it could be that your
battery is not being used so you could enter
into a contract, such as with the National
Grid to provide availability for frequency
control at certain times and then provide
access to the unit when you are not using it.
This is for larger units rather than domestic
installs.
Working with National Grid
National Grid contracts are 4-years so at the
moment, it would be unlikely to be a major
revenue stream as there are risks the
contract might not be renewed and the
payback period would be longer than 4
years.
In the future the number of batteries that
could be installed in the country means that
frequency control could be done with the
grid and controlled centrally. You would get
an additional benefit and payment. These
things together would make the case for the
battery.
Retrofitting projects on a larger scale
In the future, anyone that has a solar farm or
wind will be putting in storage with it. Take
the example of a solar farm generating
electricity and getting ROCs or Feed-in Tariffs
and selling the electricity into the grid at a
certain price.
The price in the day could be relatively low
you could be relying on subsidy to make your
margin. With storage you can store the
energy and sell it to the grid at a later time
for a higher price. That is likely to be
significantly more than current daytime
prices would be therefore you’re making
additional money which should be more than
sufficient to justify installing the storage
system.
In the future I think every solar farm in the
country will have a storage system.
Looking after your equipment
The beauty of it is that all storage will be
controlled by inbuilt electronics this gives you
the ability to monitor the system and operate
it however you want and automate it to sell
and import at the right times. The
manufacturer or supplier of the system can
also monitor its performance and notify you
if something is wrong and if maintenance is
needed.
What questions will funders ask?
One of the big problems with new
technologies is that we don’t know how long
something will last. How long the charge will
last, how long the battery’s life is.
Common questions from funders include:
how long the equipment will last, who
provides the warranties and so on. Whereas
More information
Batteries and Solar Power:
Guidance for domestic and small
commercial consumers, BRE and
RECC (2016)
Is a great place to start. The guide has a
basic introduction to the technology, battery
types, capacity, lifespan and warranties. It
also explains how storage and PV work
together, things to consider as a buyer and a
list of 20-questions to ask your installer.
https://www.recc.org.uk/news/recc-joins-
forces-with-bre-national-solar-centre-to-
launch-consumer-guide-to-battery-storage
Meet Ray at the
Twickenham Stadium, London 28 April 2016
http://storage.solarenergyevents.com/speak
ers/list

3. Twickenham Stadium, London 28 April 2016
http://storage.solarenergyevents.com
What’s the future?
Hydrogen fuel cells are expected to be the next major development in the motor industry. Most
manufacturers will introduce these for vehicles which won’t be significantly more expensive
than petrol vehicles. I think it will start to hit the markets within about 5-years.
Lithium-ion battery technology can provide a range to a car for up to 350-miles with improved
technology but fuel cells will enable you to 500-600 miles on a tank of hydrogen, and is totally
clean.
In the large deserts of the world huge solar farms could provide electricity for electrolysis to
produce hydrogen. This could be then tanked and put in a fuel cell. Hydrogen is already used in
some buses and there is some infrastructure in place in some of the world’s major cities. This is
similar to existing filling stations and would enable long distance travel.
This provides a totally clean supply of electricity which is completely sustainable. Of course, we
thought this would happen when the solar industry first emerged but the world developed in a
different way.
I believe the vehicle/car industry will end up using battery technology but larger vehicles; the
delivery vans, buses will use hydrogen fuel cells. With the motor industry backing these
technologies in 5 years’ time we could be having the same conversation about large scale
storage of energy using hydrogen.
Trial buses using hydrogen are fuelled as a bi-product of the oil industry but in the future
hydrogen will be produced using electricity from renewable sources. This is the whole point
getting solar and wind renewable energy to generate the power, store it and move it using
hydrogen and power the planet with totally clean technology.
lithium-ion batteries are already in use in
phones and laptops which people are already
familiar with. It’s the same technology but
we need to provide proof of it being used for
new applications.
Manufacturers of the systems are looking to
give longer warranties up to 10-20 years to
provide security. Solar had the same problem
– people asked “How do we know this will
still work in 25-years?” so the industry gave
warranties, with guarantees for 80% of its
original power as a minimum for 25-years.
Those allowed people to model their figures
and understand how long the ROI will take.
Working with the right manufacturer
You need to buy equipment from a
manufacturer that will still be here in the
future to ensure your funding will work. But
also if there are problems you need to know
that they will be there to solve them.
The majority of companies will likely add
more batteries into the system to keep it at a
set level of capacity.
Twickenham Stadium, London 28 April 2016
http://storage.solarenergyevents.com
MORNING KEYNOTES
UK Policy & Regulations: Proposals regarding the definitions
Global trends: cost reductions, impact of energy prices, lessons from other countries
Utilities long term plan: Big 6 vs ESCOs
Finance & Investment
RESIDENTIAL STREAM COMMERCIAL STREAM UTILITY-SCALE STREAM
Business models & revenue
streams
Keeping out cowboy installers
Case Studies: Aggregated
residential
Installer perspectives
SOCIAL HOUSING ROUNDTABLE
Business models & revenue
streams
Designing a commercial systems
Demand response for
Offering and Technology
ENERGY SECURITY
ROUNDTABLE
Business models & revenue streams
Front of the meter opportunity
National Grid tender
DNOs Case Studies
STORAGE PLUS RENEWABLES
ROUNTABLE