Dive Summary:
- The integrated solar and energy storage market will reach $2.8 billion, or 711 megawatts (MW), by 2018, a new report, “Batteries Included: Gauging Near-Term Prospect for Solar/Energy Storage Systems," from Lux Research predicts.
- Despite its projection that the U.S. will only have 75 MW of solar storage in 2018, the report says new energy storage policies, such as a U.S. Senate bill that funds $7.5 billion in storage projects, could "dramatically increase the market."
- Steven Minnihan, Lux Research Senior Analyst, notes, “Developers are pushing packaged solar and storage systems in order to stand out as value-adding leaders, but not all benefit equally. Residential energy storage will see a boost adoption due to solar, but the addition of storage will barely move the needle for solar players, driving a paltry 1% increase in global PV sales."
Insight:
Energy storage is not quite cost-effective yet but it has massive potential when coupled with intermittent renewable energy resources such as solar and wind. Driven by this potential, look for new technologies to bring energy storage up to speed in the coming years, enabling solar to further penetrate the U.S. and global energy markets.
From the article:
Grid-tied solar installations will comprise 675 MW, or nearly 95% of the combined 711 MW market, while off-grid applications including telecom power claim the remaining 5%. While the off-grid market enjoys higher profit margins, the much larger addressable market for grid-tied systems means they dominate the solar and energy storage market.