Enphase’s current growth is based around its core solar microinverter business. But in discussing the company’s Q3 earnings Tuesday, CEO Badri Kothandaraman focused on how Enphase’s soon-to-launch integrated energy storage system could aid Californians facing the state’s unfolding wildfire and grid blackout emergency.

California-based Enphase is far from the only residential solar equipment provider adding batteries to the rooftop PV proposition. Sunrun, the U.S. rooftop solar leader, says that a quarter of its California solar customers are now choosing to add batteries to their systems.

While Kothandaraman declined to predict how many battery-backed Ensemble systems the company will sell, he expects similar “attach rates” to those seen by Sunrun in the California market.

The demand for solar-battery backup systems could skyrocket, Kothandaraman said, with millions of Californians undergoing days-long blackouts this month under the expanded fire-prevention power outage regime of bankrupt utility Pacific Gas & Electric.

“The blackouts in California will only increase the attach rates for storage,” he said.

Many Enphase employees live in the same PG&E territory now facing evacuations from the Kincade Fire or lengthy power outages meant to prevent more fires from starting.

“Storage has a massive potential for [Enphase],” Kothandaraman said. “It takes us from $2,000 a home to $10,000 a home” in terms of revenue per installation, he said.

“Ensemble is a technology that brings together solar, storage, inverters and even a generator on a single technology platform to keep a home’s [power] always on.”

Solar-storage systems aren’t capable of keeping most homes fully powered for more than an hour or two, leaving it up to homeowners to decide on critical loads and manage battery life to match the duration of their outage. But the Ensemble system is preconfigured to manage these complex balancing tasks, Kothandaraman said — something not all systems built from disparate parts can claim.

Iron flow battery startup ESS raised an additional $30 million to take its technology from pilots to commercial scale.

Since 2011, the company has been developing a low-cost, nonflammable long-duration storage technology to compete across domains where the dominant lithium-ion battery chemistries are weaker. Flow batteries have been one of the more prominent lithium-ion alternatives, but companies working in the space have struggled to stay afloat financially and move beyond the pilot stage.

With the new Series C investment, ESS has won a vote of confidence from prestigious and well-heeled backers. SoftBank’s SB Energy and Bill Gates-funded Breakthrough Energy Ventures led the round, which also brought in Evergy Ventures and PTT Global Chemical, in addition to previous investors.

“SB Energy and Breakthrough Energy Ventures both bring teams with deep experience and resources across multiple areas,” said Hugh McDermott, ESS senior VP for business development and sales, in an email. “This will contribute to our company’s growth on several levels, from board level leadership, to joint development, to renewable energy project development.”

ESS will use the funds to enhance its manufacturing facility in Wilsonville, Oregon and to prepare to serve utility-scale projects worldwide.

Since the company closed a $13 million Series B in 2017, it finished a second generation of its flow technology and worked with reinsurance giant Munich Re to craft a bankable warranty for the unusual product.

Its deployments so far have been behind the meter, using the containerized Energy Warehouse product. ESS has contracted 8 megawatt-hours of new Energy Warehouse orders, with the largest single project providing 2 megawatt-hours of storage capacity, McDermott noted.

City skyscrapers could in future be used to house large “green batteries” in their underground foundations, according to a Scottish start-up behind an innovative new form of energy storage.

Gravitricity has developed a method of storing energy which works by raising multiple heavy weights up a deep shaft which can then be released when energy is required. Designed as an alternative to conventional battery storage systems, the technology could help balance the grid during periods of peak demand.

Gravitricity claims its system can operate for decades “without any degradation or reduction in performance”, potentially giving it an edge over some other forms of energy storage.

The 24MWh system – which comprises 24 weights of 500 tonnes – could power 63,000 homes for one hour, with a total weight equivalent to 84 blue whales, the company said.

Green-tech pioneers are preparing to install Gravitricity’s system in disused mineshafts across Europe, the firm said. But it is already looking ahead to the next stage of its deployment and is exploring the possibility of installing the technology in the foundations of new skyscrapers – thereby turning the buildings into city centre green energy storage units.

“In the early years we will install our technology in disused mineshafts as this will help keep the cost down,” said Gravitricity managing director Charlie Blair, as he unveiled the idea yesterday. “But in the future, we will be able to sink purpose-built shafts wherever they are required – and the foundations of city buildings could be ideal.

“New skyscrapers bring substantial new electricity demand, and by building storage in the heart of cities we can massively reduce the requirement for very costly and disruptive grid upgrades. At the same time, our system means that future skyscrapers could reduce their environmental footprint and help cities decarbonise their energy needs.”

Last year, the firm received £650,000 from government-backed R&D agency Innovate UK to help repurpose old mineshafts to pilot the technology. The firm has since teamed up with Dutch winch specialists Huisman to build a 250kW scale prototype of the idea.

The UK already uses gravity-based systems to store energy at a number of pumped hydro projects, which use excess grid power to pump water up hill. The water can then be released again when power is required.

In total, the energy storage market is projected to be worth $620bn globally up to 2040, according to estimates from Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Australia’s strong and ongoing potential for energy storage paired with solar PV has seen international and domestically-headquartered companies race to gain market share.

China-headquartered global solar inverter supplier Sungrow and domestically-headquartered battery storage company RedEarth Renewables have been among those sending releases and announcements to international press to coincide with the All-Energy Australia trade show taking place last week.

Targeting further residential gains, Sungrow struck a 100MW distribution partnership agreement with Australian distributor Prosun Solar, with the deal apparently signed and confirmed at the show last week.

The inverter company claims to already have more than a 10% share of the Australian residential market and is looking to deliver products that include user-friendly residential hybrid inverters, and all-in solutions that include battery as well as hybrid inverter. This enables “not only maximum yields but also optimum charging and discharging capabilities,” the company, which showed off a range of PV inverters from 2kW for 10kW for household use at the show, claimed.

On top of that, in addition to its range of commercial PV inverters including the 1500Vdc string inverter SG250HX, Sungrow also showcased the ST556kWh-200UD energy storage system (ESS) solution, developed through its joint venture (JV) company, Sungrow-Samsung SDI.

Meanwhile, locally-headquartered company RedEarth Energy Storage said a few days ago that it has attained approval for its product the SunRise Home Battery system, from the country’s national Clean Energy Council.

This makes it the first product on the Council’s approved list of all-in-one battery energy storage system (BESS) inverters to be made by an Australia headquartered company and manufactured within the country. This makes the outdoor-rated plug ‘n’ play battery system eligible for “all government grant and subsidy programmes,” RedEarth said in a release.

The global energy transition is happening faster than the models predicted, according to a report released today by the Rocky Mountain Institute, thanks to massive investments in the advanced-battery technology ecosystem.

Previous and planned investments total $150 billion through 2023, RMI calculates—the equivalent of every person in the world chipping in $20. In the first half of 2019 alone, venture-capital firms contributed $1.4 billion to energy storage technology companies.

“These investments will push both Li-ion and new battery technologies across competitive thresholds for new applications more quickly than anticipated,” according to RMI. “This, in turn, will reduce the costs of decarbonization in key sectors and speed the global energy transition beyond the expectations of mainstream global energy models.”

RMI’s “Breakthrough Batteries” report anticipates “self-reinforcing feedback loops” between public policy, manufacturing, research and development, and economies of scale. Those loops will drive battery performance higher while pushing costs as low as $87/kWh by 2025. (Bloomberg put the current cost at $187/kwh earlier this year.)

“These changes are already contributing to cancellations of planned natural-gas power generation,” states the report. “The need for these new natural-gas plants can be offset through clean-energy portfolios (CEPs) of energy storage, efficiency, renewable energy, and demand response.”

New natural-gas plants risk becoming stranded assets (unable to compete with renewables+storage before they’ve paid off their capital cost), while existing natural-gas plants cease to be competitive as soon as 2021, RMI predicts.

RMI analysts expect lithium-ion to remain the dominant battery technology through 2023, steadily improving in performance, but then they anticipate a suite of advanced battery technologies coming online to cater to specific uses:

Heavier transport will use solid-state batteries such as rechargeable zinc alkaline, Li-metal, and Li- sulfur. The electric grid will adopt low-cost and long-duration batteries such as zinc-based, flow, and high-temperature batteries. And when EVs become ubiquitous—raising the demand for fast charging—high-power batteries will proliferate.

Singapore has targeted 200MW of energy storage beyond 2025 and 2GW of solar by 2030, but will continue to rely on natural gas for the next 50 years, according to a government official.

This morning, minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing spoke about the country’s energy focus over the next five decades at the opening of the Singapore International Energy Week. The island nation currently obtains 95% of its electricity supply from natural gas delivered through pipelines from neighbouring counties and global supplies of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) through its ports. While Chun Sing aimed to diversify this gas supply, he also put forward a vision for alternative energy supply.

The goal of 200MW of energy storage beyond 2025 comes under a vision of having a network of energy storage solutions across the entire island to manage the stability and resilience of the grid, as well as offering peak shaving services.

Singapore’s difference between peak and trough within the daily cycle can be as much as 30%, requiring extra infrastructure capacity to meet peak demand. The use of storage to balance peak and trough demand, however, could save on such infrastructure costs.

Chun Sing said: “if we can do that well, I believe that the solutions will not only benefit Singapore but will also benefit many other countries beyond Singapore. Today, in order to cater to peak demand, most countries have to spend a lot to build the infrastructure just for that few hours of the day. So energy storage solutions are something that we would certainly like to develop further, with our partners both in the private sector and in other countries.”

The energy storage vision is partly driven by the expected push for solar energy installations in the coming years. Lacking in geothermal, wind and tidal resources, Singapore’s future clean energy plans rest largely on solar power, despite having overcast skies for roughly 80% of the time due to its tropical climate.

The 2GW of PV by 2030 goal – described by Chun Sing as a “stretch target” – would account for the equivalent of 10% of Singapore’s peak daily electricity demand today. It would require collaboration between the public and private sectors as well as breakthroughs in solar module efficiencies and vertical solar installations, given that Singapore lacks available land and relies heavily on rooftop-based solar deployment.

The global annual energy storage market is at risk of contracting in 2019, following a bumper year of growth in 2018, according to new research by Wood Mackenzie.

The report – ‘Global energy storage outlook, Q3 2019’ – said the global market has slowed down in key regions that saw 2018’s boom, namely South Korea and China.

These countries have been plagued with fire incidences, as well as policy and regulatory changes, Wood Mackenzie said.

The US and European markets are also struggling to get capacity on the ground in 2019, with capacity being pushed to 2020, 2021 and, in some cases, even further out, it said.

However, beyond 2019, the global storage outlook is on the up.

Wood Mackenzie expects 4GW of energy storage to be deployed globally in 2019, with these numbers increasing to 15GW in 2024.

Wood Mackenzie senior analyst Rory McCarthy said: “The energy storage industry in the Asia-Pacific region is still at an early stage of development.

“China’s storage market slowed in the first three quarters of 2019, primarily due to policy change.

“South Korea’s storage market continues to stagnate due to continuous fire incidents. However, Australia’s storage market is on track to hit targets in 2019 and is expected to grow three-fold in 2020.

“The rest of the Asia-Pacific market is beginning to pick up.

“In the US market, hidden beyond the overall surge in forecasted five-year deployments is an industry hitting growing pains, as the reality of supply chain constraints, regulatory hurdles and performance and safety concerns are set to push back some 2019 and 2020 projects.

“The market is expected to bounce back quickly from this near-term slowdown by accelerating in 2021, driven by large-scale utility procurements targeting GWs of storage – often paired with renewables – over the next three to five years.

“We are at a crossroads in the UK and Germany. Frequency markets have saturated. Now players are looking for other opportunities.

ENERGY Exploration Technologies (EnergyX) has developed a scalable lithium extraction process using metal organic framework (MOF) membranes to extract lithium from brines, which is a faster, more efficient, and more environmentally friendly method than conventional processes.

The technology is known as Lithium Ion Transport and Separation (LiTAS) and is the result of research from the University of Texas at Austin, Monash University, and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia. EnergyX has secured the rights to the technology and is commercialising it.

LiTAS uses mixed matrix membranes (MMM), which are an interconnected network of MOFs held together by polymers. MOFs have large internal surface areas and small pore sizes, which makes them suitable for separation, and polymers have robust mechanical properties. The MMM is made into a thin film using a proprietary casting method created by Kevin Reimund, the Director of Membrane Engineering at EnergyX. The film is then rolled into a module and then thousands of modules can be linked together to create a scaled-up version at a lithium extraction facility.

Disruptive technology

Typically, lithium is produced from brine evaporation or hard rock mining. Producing lithium from brine evaporation takes an average of 18 months but can take up to 24 months. It also uses a significant amount of freshwater, requiring around 2,270 L/t of lithium produced. In contrast, EnergyX’s technology is a continuous process that takes one to two days and it doesn’t require any fresh water. The MOF also ensures that the lithium is separated from all other salts in the brine. LiTAS has a low power consumption, reduced operating costs, and has a lithium recovery rate of 90% compared to 30–50% from conventional processes,

According to Teague Egan, founder and CEO of EnergyX, the technology will be extremely disruptive to the industry. “It is an absolutely transformative step-change in the way lithium is sourced today. Traditional lithium mining is done through either hard rock or brine evaporation. We are looking to replace the brine evaporation side, which will drastically undercut the economics of hard rock mining as well. We are confident our new method will completely replace traditional mining. It’s a horse vs car comparison.”

Senate legislators, energy investors and utilities are looking to the next generation of energy storage to achieve “deep decarbonization,” but few researchers are confident that today’s experimental technologies will ensure wind and solar become the dominant sources of power.

Over the past decade, power companies have cultivated a taste for lithium-ion storage, stringing together battery packs into a giant sponge that soaks up electricity and later delivers it for four- to eight-hour increments.

Markets for that kind of short-term battery storage are modest, but they’ve grown eighteenfold since 2009, according to a count by Environment America, a green advocacy group.

Some believe that with sufficient resources, scientists and entrepreneurs could pioneer a kind of storage that multiplies the current four-to-eight-hour period of power delivery several times over. States, cities and companies have put out a flood of 100% renewable or zero-emission plans, which count on development of technology that can store electricity for days or weeks.

“There’s a sense that this is coming,” said Scott Litzelman, a program director at the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

Yet energy storage could hit a wall if power companies aren’t already moving to replace most nonrenewable generation with wind and solar. Few energy analysts say they believe long-term storage would serve the same purpose as nuclear, gas or coal plants that produce a constant stream of “baseload” power.

On a highly renewable grid, power companies would still have to encourage consumers to use less power at certain hours. And expanding transmission connections between regions could, in some cases, improve reliability in ways similar to storage, they say.

Tim Grejtak, an analyst at the New York-based market research firm Lux Research Inc., noted in a presentation last year that the applications for long-duration systems were so far “vaguely defined.”

Early deployments might take place on island grids or remote areas, he predicted. But “in our minds, it’s sort of a solution of last resort. And as such, we don’t think it will see a huge deployment, in terms of pure numbers of projects.”

Tesla CEO Elon Musk forecast that the company’s energy business will eventually be the same size as — or even bigger than — its automotive sector, the latest sign that the company plans to put more time and resources to scaling up its solar and storage products.

“It could be bigger, but it will certainly be of a similar magnitude,” Musk said during an earnings call Wednesday. The company surprised Wall Street by reporting a return to profitability in the third quarter.

The bulk of Tesla’s revenue is generated from sales of its Model S, Model X and Model 3 electric vehicles. In the third quarter, automotive revenues were $5.35 billion. The company doesn’t break out revenue generated from solar, energy storage or other products and services. However, the total revenue in the third quarter was $6.3 billion, which gives some indication of the size of automotive compared to its other businesses.

Tesla’s energy and solar businesses languished for nearly two years as attention and resources were directed to the Model 3. That diversion of resources included redirecting to the car battery cell production lines meant for its home Powerwall and commercial Powerpack energy storage products because the company didn’t have enough cells.

“We had to do it because if we didn’t solve the Model 3, Tesla wouldn’t survived,” he said. “So, unfortunately that shorted other parts of the company.”

Now, the company is committed to scaling up energy storage and solar. Kunal Girotra, who initially joined Tesla in 2015 as a senior product manager for Powerwall, was promoted to senior director of the company’s energy operations.

In the third quarter, Tesla deployed 43 megawatts of solar, a 48% increase from the previous quarter. Solar installations are still 54% lower than the same period last year.