Energy storage is a technology that holds energy at one time so it can be used at another time. Building more energy storage allows renewable energy sources like wind and solar to power more of our electric grid.
In fact, when you add the cost of an energy storage system to the cost of solar panels or wind turbines, solar and wind are no longer competitive with coal or natural gas. As a result, the world is racing to make energy storage cheaper, which would allow us to replace fossil fuels with wind and solar on a large scale.
Thermal energy storage (TES) is a process of storing thermal energy to use at a later time. TES systems store this energy in the form of heat, which releases when needed as either hot or cold air. This type of storage technology is becoming popular as a renewable energy source. Solar and wind become more prevalent.
As a result, the world is racing to make energy storage cheaper, which would allow us to replace fossil fuels with wind and solar on a large scale. There are various forms of energy storage in use today. Electrochemical batteries, like the lithium-ion batteries in electric cars, use electrochemical reactions to store energy.
It’s true that solar energy is only produced when the sun is shining on solar panels. Likewise, wind energy is dependent on the ebb and flow of air currents. But the sheer volume of renewable energy being deployed, the ability to store that energy for longer, and to match demand with supply using software, creates a balanced grid.
The process of storing solar energy starts with the conversion of DC electricity. Generated by solar panels into AC electricity through an inverter. The AC electricity is then used to power household appliances. While excess power gets stored in batteries for later use. When there is no sunlight, the battery releases its stored energy.