Battery Energy Storage Systems

Storage Combines Energy Security with Savings

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) improve control over electricity use and increases reliability. Storage can be used as a hedge against the rising costs of electricity, providing some customers with annual savings, while expanding security of back-up electricity for critical power loads. While storage can be installed as a standalone asset, financial benefits are maximized in several ways when combined with a commercial solar energy system.

Improve Reliability & Resilience

Battery energy storage systems can supply backup power during electricity disruptions and can be scaled to an entire building or most critical components of an organization or business.

Storage provides flexibility for the grid, to ensure uninterrupted power to consumers, whenever and wherever the energy is needed. This flexibility is critical to both reliability and resilience. As the cost of outages continues to rise, the value of enhanced reliability and improvements in resilience also increases.

Adding battery storage systems can vastly increase levels of energy resiliency, allowing businesses to run facilities even in case of a utility electricity outage. This is essential for users who rely on a continuous supply of electricity, such as businesses with 24/7 operations, hospitals, cold storage facilities, schools, and community centers.

Energy storage is an enabling technology. When the sun is not shining for solar generation, a commercial energy storage system can support energy needs. When demand shifts and baseload resources cannot react quickly enough, energy storage can support those energy needs.

Time of Use Arbitrage

The hours of a day (or 15-minute interval meter data) are often priced differently by utility companies, especially for commercial and industrial customers. Electricity rates can vary significantly between the morning, afternoon, and evening hours, leaving businesses with financial risk of fluctuating energy market costs. Commercial battery storage enables a customer to save excess electricity produced by their solar system and then use it to power their own loads when utility electricity is at a premium. This also allows facilities to make the most of time-of-use pricing and reduce tariff structure change risk to electricity cost.

Demand Reduction or Peak Load Shaving

Utility companies impose potentially costly “demand charges” based on a customer’s highest electricity usage during the billing cycle or peak usage time of day. Commercial users can “shave” their maximum utility power electricity demand, and reduce demand charges, by using stored battery energy to supplement the electricity generated by their solar system.

While energy efficiency or solar can reduce total electricity consumption, these benefits do not always coincide with a building’s peak use. Commercial energy storage systems, especially those paired with intelligent software, can track a facility’s load, and reduce demand charges by dispatching battery power during periods of peak demand, effectively “flattening” the load.

Participation in Demand Response

Demand response for commercial and industrial facilities traditionally involves ratcheting down usage at times of peak demand. Energy storage can enable participation in demand response markets without affecting on-site energy use or operations. By responding to utility price signals, storage systems can increase financial return from participating in demand response programs, while also benefiting the grid overall.

Support EV Charging Needs

As electric vehicle (EV) chargers become more ubiquitous, these EV charging stations will often be accompanied by battery energy storage solutions. Energy storage helps the businesses with EV charging be sure that they can always recharge their EV vehicles or EV fleets at the site. Most organizations with EV charging stations will realize the benefit of helping minimize peak demand when charging multiple EVs or charging during peak times.

Reduce Environmental Impacts

Energy storage has many environmental benefits that can make it a valuable tool for meeting sustainability goals. Energy storage enables electricity to be saved for a later, helping the grid to better integrate renewable energy. This creates efficiencies and capabilities for the electric grid—including the ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Energy storage can help integrate added solar and distributed energy resources by increasing grid flexibility and improve the efficiency of the grid (e.g., reducing the need for building new pollution-emitting peak power plants). As the energy supply mix gets cleaner with low and no-carbon resources, energy storage helps that supply mix evolve more easily and reliably.

A key benefit of energy storage paired with a commercial solar system is that the electricity is emission-free, making the combined system eligible for federal investment tax credits.

Get a Custom Assessment

There are several options when it comes to commercial battery storage systems, and each one helps accommodate a different set of energy needs. Storage solutions are indispensable for any facility seeking to reduce energy costs, prevent losses due to power failure and protect the environment. Let Core Development Group navigate solar plus storage options and identify a customized solution for each unique situation.

Energy Tech Review recognized Core Development Group in the Top 10 Battery Storage Solutions Providers 2022.