Apple California Flats solar farm using Tesla Megapack energy storage
Large Tesla Megapack storage array being built in California to supply power for Apple infrastructure.
Category Archives: Energy Storage
Huge (1 GWh) energy storage project announced for Utah using compressed air in salt caverns
Last week a massively huge energy storage project was announced in Utah. Details are scarce, but since the announcement included both Utah Governor Gary Herbert and US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, the companies involved were able to draw on some heavy firepower and maybe there is some government funding…
When DERs participate in wholesale electricity markets state and local authority is not trampled
Earlier this month a group of 22 US Senators co-authored a Letter saying the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should preserve the ability of local electricity providers to maintain control over the electricity grid. At issue is whether Distributed Energy Resources, a.k.a. DER’s, can sell electricity to the wholesale electricity market.…
Explosion at APS energy storage unit injures firefighters, casts doubt on energy storage
Friday night, April 19, an explosion at a grid-scale energy storage unit near Phoenix injured four firefighters who were investigating a report of smoke rising from the facility. The APS McMicken Energy Storage facility is operated by Fluence, a company formed by Siemens after they bought out AES Corp, the…
Dept of Energy moving forward with energy storage research projects, doubling down on renewable energy
Solar power isn’t dead in the Trump Administration. Instead, the Dept of Energy announced last week that the 2020 SunShot cost reduction goals were met, and therefore the focus of the Solar Energy Technologies Office would shift to longer-term goals such as Grid Reliability and Energy Storage. “With the impressive…
DOE Secretary Perry orders review of whether renewable energy erodes energy grid stability: Coal Versus Solar
In a letter to the Department of Energy, Secretary Perry describes having attended the G7 Energy Ministerial, and his reaction to discussion of “the need for an energy transition utilizing greater efficiency and fuel diversity.” That transition is necessary because the prevailing electric energy paradigm is based in fossil…
Grid energy storage key to Clean Power Plan success, not its downfall
The recently unveiled Clean Power Plan is way cool – it mandates replacing coal power plants with solar and wind based power systems. Supplanting the dirtiest of fossil fuels with the cleanest of renewable is a big move in the right direction. It won’t be easy, but it’s eminently doable.…
Tesla Motors will fly high unless it fails to reinvent the world, says dueling stock analysts
Whether Tesla Motors will fly or flail has always seemed to me uncertain. The goals Tesla Motors is out to achieve are big, very big, nothing shorter than ending fossil fuel consumption. Which of course will be incredibly hard, and has meant a chorus of naysayers singing about the impossibility of…
How safe are grid energy storage units? Will they catch fire as Tesla’s cars have?
We have to consider this – because, any failure of a grid connected energy storage system risks the whole project going down in flames. Just as happened with the handful of electric car fires, an energy storage system fire could become the target of ire by certain political types and poison…
Tesla’s JB Straubl warns Intersolar US 2015 the solar/storage business is about to be revolutionized
This week the two top stories of the Intersolar US 2015 trade show were – Tesla Motors CTO JB Straubl giving the Keynote address, giving the Solar industry fair warning the Solar City / Tesla Motors duo was planning to shake things up – and that in the previous 12…
Elon Musk launches Tesla Energy – grid energy storage systems for homes and utility companies
Tonight Tesla Motors announced what we’ve expected, but it’s a bigger deal than expected. Specifically, Tesla Motors is launching what’s essentially a new business unit, Tesla Energy, and positioning itself not as an automaker but as an “energy innovation company”. Tesla Energy’s product line is, initially, grid-tied energy storage units…
Batteries can catch fire in the most unusual ways – iPhone 6 bent in half, catches fire in mans pants
In the electric car field we’re worried about public perception of electric car safety. Despite the fact there’s over 200,000 gasoline car fires per year in the U.S. alone, causing hundreds of fatalities and property damage costs, there is inordinately outsized attention paid to the very small number of electric…
Ford and Samsung hope to eliminate lead-acid batteries from gasoline cars
One of the negative impacts of regular gasoline powered cars is the lead-acid battery that drives the starter motor, and also helps to run the 12 volt system. Lead acid battery production has a negative impact because Lead is obviously one of the horrid chemicals. While lead acid batteries are…
Honda shows off the future with a Smart Home, Photovoltaics, an energy management system, and DC-charged Fit EV
Today, Honda launched a new project – the Honda Smart Home – that’s a glimpse into the future of buildings and transportation. And, it’s a future that isn’t terribly far away because most of the project uses off-the-shelf equipment. The idea is to look beyond zero emission vehicles to a…
Dept. of Energy awards over $30 million in battery research grants
A $45 million package of Department of Energy grants supporting advanced vehicle technologies included $22.5 million for advanced battery research, and another $8 million for power electronics research. The grants aim to cut battery size and weight in half, allow semiconductors to operate more efficiently and at higher temperature, give greater durability, reliability, and lower…
