SustainaVolt Inc

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Relatively small battery cells, very similar to the small batteries used in consumer electronics, are arranged into modules, which are then arranged into racks. These racks are housed either in purpose-built containers or buildings and are connected to the grid via inverters (turning DC electricity to AC and visa versa). This allows the storage system to charge and discharge stored energy, as needed.

Investment Creates Long-term Reliability

Our investment in energy storage evolves with our grid, creating long-term benefit and reliability for years to come. Energy storage is a critical hub for the entire grid, augmenting resources from wind, solar and hydro, to nuclear and fossil fuels, to demand side resources and system efficiency assets. It can act as a generation, transmission or distribution asset – sometimes in a single asset. Ultimately, storage is an enabling technology. It can save consumers money, improve reliability and resilience, integrate generation sources, and help reduce environmental impacts.

Save Money

Energy storage can save operational costs in powering the grid, as well as save money for electricity consumers who install energy storage in their homes and businesses. Energy storage can reduce the cost to provide frequency regulation and spinning reserve services, as well as offset the costs to consumers by storing low-cost energy and using it later, during peak periods at higher electricity rates. By using energy storage during brief outages, businesses can avoid costly disruptions and continue normal operations. Residents can save themselves from lost food and medicines, and the inconvenience of not having electricity. And there is an option for both businesses and residential consumers to participate in demand response programs when available.

Improve Reliability & Resilience

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. Storage provides flexibility for the grid, to ensure uninterrupted power to consumers, whenever and wherever they need it. 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.

Integrate Diverse Resources

Energy storage can smooth out the delivery of variable or intermittent resources such as wind and solar, by storing excess energy when the wind is blowing and the sun is shining and delivering it when the opposite is happening. But storage can also support the efficient delivery of electricity for inflexible, baseload resources. When demand changes quickly, and flexibility is required, energy storage can inject or extract electricity as needed to exactly match load – wherever, and whenever it’s needed. Energy storage is an enabling technology. When the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing, energy storage can be there. When demand shifts and baseload resources can’t react quickly enough, energy storage can be there.

Reduce Environmental Impacts

In simplest terms, energy storage enables electricity to be saved for a later, when and where it is most needed. This creates efficiencies and capabilities for the electric grid—including the ability to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. By introducing more flexibility into the grid, energy storage can help integrate more solar, wind and distributed energy resources. It can also improve the efficiency of the grid – increasing the capacity factor of existing resources – and offset the need for building new pollution-emitting peak power plants. As our energy supply mix gets cleaner with low- and no-carbon resources, energy storage helps that supply mix evolve more easily and reliably.

Is IT SAFE?

Yes. Advances in technology and materials have greatly increased the reliability, output, and density of modern battery systems, and economies of scale have dramatically reduced the associated cost. Safety is paramount to continued and widespread use of energy storage. In fact, all energy storage projects must incorporate sophisticated battery and energy management systems as well as operations and management protocols to monitor, alert, and report all aspects of the facilities with multiple layers of redundancy 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Fire prevention and mitigation is of the utmost importance. Independent requirements and certifications for fire safety have undergone rapid development and implementation in recent years. Entities such as the Underwriters Laboratory and the National Fire Protection Association create these rules and guidelines which are applied to all large-scale battery products and projects. In addition, regulatory entities such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, as well as regional and local laws require various security measures to ensure safe and responsible operation.