Storing Solar Energy a Major Issue

Australia’s quest for sustainability and dependence on non-carbon intensive energy sources does not only require the obvious developing of renewable energy technology for producing power through means such as solar and wind.

The 2^nd and equally important part of the puzzle is being able to effectively store the power produced by these renewable energy sources at the time of their peak production so it is then available for use 24hours a day as required.

This is the reason that there is so much focus on Feed in Tariff schemes that enable households with solar panels to feed any excess electricity they produce during the day back into the main power grid as credits for the evening when they can they draw upon it again.

Some people, especially in rural areas, prefer to be completely independent from any existing electricity grid provider though, and so choose an “off grid” solar panel system option to enable self-sufficiency. And in this case the issue of storage of their power produced becomes crucial.

Currently the most popular battery pack available in the market are the deep cycle batteries, which typical look like a car battery but have the ability to discharge in greater depths (50% to 80%) and can do so over and over again.This type of battery can also be cycled down to 20%, however to maintain a longer lifespan it is best to keep it at around 50% discharge.

Although the performance of a deep cycle battery is promising it lags behind due to the economic aspects. The batteries are generally expensive and may require regular maintenance to function at their full potential.

This is exactly why energy storage has become a major issue in Australia and with other renewable energy loving nations.

Solar PV technology is evolving and achieving greater efficiency ratings at a fast rate, and energy storage also needs to evolve apace, for ‘Off Grid” solar power to be a widely available viable option.

Worldwide there has been numerous of advances to Lithium-ion. This technology was popularized by cell phone manufacturers and it has proven to hold the key to our storage problems.

However the real issue in energy storage is the number of cycles the battery perform and the cost. One of Australia’s top researchers Maria Forsyth from Deakin University in Canberra together with a team of researchers from the Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship are now developing battery technologies that will enable us to collect and store clean energy efficiently and economically.

According to them if a battery will cost about $1000 then it should be capable of delivering 10,000 cycles to be acceptable.

Unfortunately a lot of work is still needed to be done to develop such technology. The team are now focusing on discovering cheaper materials to produce this types of battery, and in a few years’ time we will hopefully have much more effective energy storage capabilities; only then we can say that Australia has reached the point of true sustainability and carbon neutrality.