With the declining cost of energy storage technology, solar batteries are becoming an increasingly popular addition to solar installations. However, it’s not just residential and commercial solar shoppers who benefit from installing energy storage.

In fact, utility-scale battery storage is increasingly playing a major role in the operation of the electric grid, providing cost savings, environmental benefits and new flexibility for the grid.

The size and functionality of utility-scale battery storage depends upon a couple of primary factors, including the location of the battery on the grid, and the mechanism or chemistry used to store electricity.

The most common grid-scale battery solutions today are rated to provide either 2, 4 or 6 hours of electricity at their rated capacity; though, it’s not unrealistic to anticipate that longer-duration batteries will be available someday in the near future.

Generally, grid-scale batteries are either paired with a generating resource, such as a wind farm, or placed on the transmission and distribution system, such as at substations, to help balance local electric supply and demand.

Source: news.energysage.com