PV market has been back on track in 2013. The integration of energy-storage systems which can enhance the sustainability/reliability of renewable energy and PV systems has become one of the major trends in PV industry. The subsidy plans provided by Japan and Germany will also drive the development of PV energy-storage systems in the future. As indicated by Uni-Istrament, the total net sales for PV energy-storage systems will reach US$ 2.8 billion from 2013 to 2018 with Japan being the largest market and Germany being the second.
Energy-storage systems can not only increase ratio of self-consumption, but also can be used as independent and back-up power supply
Donny Chang, President of Changs Ascending Enterprise and Jackie Lin, New Business Development Manager of Uni Istrament attended the PVforum 2013 - Market Status and Future Development for Solar Power Plants in Asia held by TrendForce on October 31st, 2013. They talked about the prospect of the PV energy-storage system market. Mr. Lin indicated that the focus of PV industry has been transferred from financial products to self-consumption. As for the energy-storage systems, it can not only increase self-consumption rate, but also can be used as independent and back-up power supply. Meanwhile, it can operate in coordination with the deployment of power companies, increase the stability of the grid, and combine smartgrid with renewable energy.
Mr. Chang also conducted an analysis on the importance of energy-storage systems to new energy. In fact, energy-storage systems can increase the effectiveness to convert resources into energy, improve the unequal distribution of resources and the inconsistency between power generation and power consumption. In addition, he did another analysis on large and small-scale energy-storage systems. As for large-scale energy-storage systems, power were mostly supplied to key areas by operating in coordination with solar energy or wind energy as well as the grid to increase consumption efficiency and power supply reliability. In the mean time, the systems would save power during the off-peak period and supply power during peak period in order to conduct intelligent control. Besides, it can be used as emergency light.
On the other hand, small-scale energy-storage systems can provide integrated management of new energy power. Moreover, new energy cells can store and integrate small and unstable sources of electricity in order to achieve maximum economic efficiency. It can also be used as emergency back-up light during natural disasters. Besides, small-scale energy-storage systems can correspond to the electricity price in different regions, adjust based on users’ daily routine, and achieve electricity balance. Mr. Chang was optimistic about the future market of small-scale energy-storage systems.
Total net sales for PV energy-storage systems will reach US$ 2.8 billion from 2013 to 2018
The development of PV energy-storage systems have also been discussed in the PVforum. Mr. Lin pointed out that the total net sales for PV energy-storage systems will reach US$2.8 billion from 2013 to 2018. The PV energy-storage systems are likely to account for 10% of the total PV systems. During this period of time, Japan will play a major role in this segment with projected total amount of PV energy-storage system accumulated installation reaching 381MW. Germany will be the second largest market in terms of the segment with projected total accumulated installation amount reaching 94MW.
Mr. Lin used the example of German’s PV energy-storage systems and pointed out although the cost to build PV energy-storage systems is higher than PV systems in general, the electricity cost will substantially decline. Due to the PV energy-storage subsidy provided by the German government, the total lifetime cost of German’s PV energy-storage systems will decrease. Overall, it would be the most cost-effective option.