Energy Storage Investments Boom as Battery Costs Halve in the Next Decade

Post by dwighttk » Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 6:26 PM UTC

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #53

dwighttk wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Seems like most of the world just needs solar to last until the next day as long as it's not cloudy for a week

Did the person sizing the solar panels in this hypothetical forget that it was sometimes cloudy? Seems a rather silly mistake. Wouldn't they have access to data predicting to within fairly narrow margins how often this would occur statistically? I mean if cloudy weather reduces the output by a factor of 4 then you don't really need to bring long term storage into the matter to have trouble if you're going size everyt…

Post by toomuchtodo » Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 6:31 PM UTC

dharma1 wrote: post #39

volak wrote: post #31

No companies listed in article - anyone have a list of companies developing new battery technology? Been something I've tried researching in the past with little luck

Maxwell, now owned by Tesla. I think Tesla will become a big player in the battery tech space

Post by adrianN » Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 6:48 PM UTC

cesarb wrote: post #60

adrianN wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think that this is a meaningless metric. It seems to me that we need at least enough storage to last for a night. Realistically we need enough storage to cover reduced production and increased demand through winter.

> It seems to me that we need at least enough storage to last for a night. That's only the case if all your generation is from photovoltaic solar. The wind doesn't stop blowing at night, and you need a long drought for hydro to stop producing power.

Post by adrianN » Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 6:52 PM UTC

BurningFrog wrote: post #35

michaelt wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What percentage of our global storage needs do you believe are "long term" in this dichotomy? Solar output in the UK varies substantially between summer and winter [1] - as does demand for heating. As a Brit with solar panels, it would be super neat if I could generate power during the summer, store it for 6 months, and use it for heating during winter. That would reduce my direct carbon emissions relative to the sta…

Another "paradigm" is that full and empty batteries are shipped between regions by boat or truck as needed instead of just waiting 6 months for the planet to move through the cosmos.

Post by maxerickson » Sat, Aug 10, 2019, 7:19 PM UTC

darkerside wrote: post #62

mlthoughts2018 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is just armchair analysis, but my perception from easily Googleable sources on mining & resource companies for battery tech is that it doesn’t actually look like a good investment for casual investors. The lithium market seems crazy and susceptible to high volatility from Chinese stockpiles. Meanwhile, battery technologies, even at the high end, are becoming rapidly commoditized and experiencing price wars, mean…

Seems to me that an immature market that is on its way to becoming a commodity is a great time to invest, as opposed to post commoditization