The purpose of home energy storage

What is energy storage?

Simply put, energy storage is the ability to capture energy at one time for use at a later time. Storage devices can save energy in many forms (e.g., chemical, kinetic, or thermal) and convert them back to useful forms of energy like electricity.

Why is energy storage important?

Much like refrigerators enabled food to be stored for days or weeks so it didn’t have to be consumed immediately or thrown away, energy storage lets individuals and communities access electricity when they need it most—like during outages, or when the sun isn’t shining.

Does energy storage provide backup power?

Energy storage can provide backup power during disruptions. The same concept that applies to backup power for an individual device (e.g., a smoke alarm that plugs into a home but also has battery backup), can be scaled up to an entire building or even the grid at large.

Is battery storage a good way to store solar energy?

Thankfully, battery storage can now offer homeowners a cost-effective and efficient way to store solar energy. Lithium-ion batteries are the go-to for home solar energy storage. They’re relatively cheap (and getting cheaper), low profile, and suited for a range of needs.

Why do we need electricity storage?

More broadly, storage can provide electricity in response to changes or drops in electricity, provide electricity frequency and voltage regulation, and defer or avoid the need for costly investments in transmission and distribution to reduce congestion.

Why do we need a co-optimized energy storage system?

The need to co-optimize storage with other elements of the electricity system, coupled with uncertain climate change impacts on demand and supply, necessitate advances in analytical tools to reliably and efficiently plan, operate, and regulate power systems of the future.