alternative energy sources

SoNick battery performance for cooking competition

GridEdge was recently asked to use our clean energy trailer with its Sodium nickel chloride (SoNick) battery to power a local cooking competition event to showcase local foods.

Originally the expectations were that we would be powering the PA and sound system and maybe a portable fridge. As the day got closer the requirements changed and instead of a portable fridge there were going to be 2 x 10 Amp eskys with ice so it would only be the PA and sound system that were being used that we needed to power.

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Battery storage uptake by households surges as grid costs soar

 

Battery storage systems being installed in Australia look set to confirm earlier predictions that battery installations will treble in 2017.

New data from the SunWiz 2017 Mid-Year Battery Report shows more than 7000 battery installations took place across Australia in the first six month of 2017.  By contrast there were 6500 installations recorded for all of 2016. Current projections say Australia is headed for a total of more than 20,000 energy storage battery installations by the end of 2017.

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Accelerating Climate Action

Amongst the G20 countries, Australia’s emission reduction target – a reduction of 26-28% on a 2005 baseline – is unusually weak, nowhere near what is required for us to play our fair share in meeting a 2°C Paris target.

The impacts that we are experiencing now at a ~1°C rise in average temperature are the forerunners of rapidly escalating risks as the temperature rises towards 2°C and beyond. An overview of these risks – worsening extreme weather, damage to natural ecosystems, disproportionate impacts on the poor and vulnerable – is given by the ‘burning embers diagram’ of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The series reveals a striking trend – as the science of climate impacts advances, severe impacts are now expected at more modest increases in temperature

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Problems solved with battery storage

One of the biggest problems with the efforts to use renewable energy to produce large amounts of the energy consumed on a daily basis has been its inability to reliably supply power at the times it is most needed. This can and will be addressed with the installation of battery systems that allow households, businesses and energy network providers to store renewable energy for use at night or in peak periods.

Solar panels convert the sun’s rays into electricity during the day with maximum generation being between the hours of 11 to 3pm. Unfortunately, for most people unless you are home during the day 80% of this power gets fed back into the grid for very little return. Likewise, although energy generation through wind is now very efficient and cost effective the times when wind produces energy can be intermittent.

Batteries also reduce the amount of electricity that is exported to the grid from rooftop solar during the middle of the day. This has the capacity to significantly reduce variability and stabilise grid supply.

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