HOW DOES A ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM WORKS?

Energy storage stores power from renewable sources, dependable and available on demand. Wind turbines do not generate power when the wind is calm. Solar cells produce lots of zero-carbon electricity during the day when the sun is high, but unless those kilowatts are stored in a battery or other system, there is no way to use them when it’s dark.

In places such as California, where sunny days are plentiful and installed solar capacity is growing fast, net power usage peaks in the morning before the sun’s rays hit the panels. It then dips all afternoon as clean solar energy flows into the power grid and peaks again in the early evening as the sky darkens. Often called the duck curve, this pattern is getting more severe every year.
Many industrial and commercial businesses are installing battery energy storage systems (BESS) near their facilities to reduce their carbon footprints and provide backup emergency power sources.
A battery energy storage system also helps reduce electricity bills, by being charged when energy is cheaper to generate and drawing on stored supply during peak demand, when it’s
more expensive.

“How can energy storage systems make the grid more resilient?”

In front of the meter, utilities use energy storage to relieve congestion on their generating plants and aging grid infrastructure. Renewable energy, electric vehicles, and energy-efficient buildings place very complex demands on grids not built for many resources.
By using energy storage, utilities can balance grid loads and extend the lives of their infrastructures while they upgrade for a distributed energy future.
Another key point: Microgrids, whether for single facilities or whole communities shifting to renewable sources, also are employing energy storage to ensure reliable power. WEG’s Energy Control System works with energy storage to keep power usage from overwhelming microgrids and to ensure that they
never lose power.

“Energy Storage enables cost savings and efficient use of renewable power, even after it’s been generated”

As governments and companies pledge to go carbon neutral in the coming decades, we will need more solar and wind power — but we will also need to store that energy so it can be used when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing.

In the future, we’ll generate more of our electricity from zero-carbon solar energy sources and wind power, and we’ll store that electricity near the source, near the industries and communities that use it, and everywhere in between. That clean energy will power our homes, businesses, cars and someday our aircraft — which means we’ll need more renewable production and storage capacity.