Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)
What is a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)?
Battery Energy Storage Systems are technologies that store energy from the electric grid and/or energy from a generating source to which it is directly connected. A single BESS typically has multiple batteries in a single system. The size of the BESS determines how many multiple batteries are installed.
BESSs can operate on their own, being connected to the electric grid, and providing services to support the function of that grid. It can also be connected to a generating source, such as a solar generation system, to be directly charged from that source and enhance its performance as a combined system. BESSs can help solar projects become “dispatchable”, meaning that the system can modify how it feeds energy into the grid based on the needs of the grid at a given moment.
What kind of BESSs are there? What can they do?
BESSs come is all range of sizes and applications.
Distributed solar can be paired with a BESS to provide a home or business with a back-up power source if the grid goes down. It can also store energy from the solar and discharge it in the early mornings and evenings when the sun is not shining, allowing the combined system to run for longer periods than the solar would on its own. A home BESS is typically installed on the wall of a garage. A commercial-scale BESS could be the size of a single parking space.
Large-scale BESS can be directly connected to the electric grid. It can also be directly connected to large-scale solar projects, enhancing its ability to provide energy to the grid (ie. longer hours) and to be a more flexible resource and help the grid when called upon.