Why should companies install off grid solar power storage? China's solar energy storage solutions

Since last year, as energy storage technology has become more mature, costs have gradually decreased, and electricity price incentive policies have been continuously introduced, there have been more and more small and medium-sized user-side energy storage projects, and the market demand for user-side energy storage projects has also greatly increased. Recently, many user-side energy storage projects have been put into operation across the country, but many people still don’t know much about user-side energy storage.

Generally speaking, the user-side energy storage we usually talk about mainly refers to electrochemical energy storage used in a large number of industrial and commercial customers. Energy storage equipment can be simply understood as a large power bank. It charges when the electricity price is low and discharges when the electricity price is high for enterprise production, thereby reducing the enterprise's electricity costs.

From the perspective of the entire power system, the application scenarios of energy storage can be divided into three scenarios: power generation side energy storage, transmission and distribution side energy storage, and user-side energy storage.

01. 20 Questions on User-side Energy Storage

1. What is user-side energy storage?

The user-side energy storage we usually talk about mainly refers to the electrochemical energy storage used by a large number of industrial and commercial customers. The energy storage equipment can be simply understood as a large power bank. It charges when the electricity price is low and discharges for enterprise production when the electricity price is high, thereby reducing the enterprise's electricity costs.

2. What are the benefits of installing an energy storage system?

(1) Peak shaving and valley filling: Utilizing the difference in peak and valley electricity prices, charging during valley and flat periods, and discharging during peak and peak periods, reducing the enterprise's electricity costs.

(2) Balancing demand charges: The energy storage system can shave peaks and valleys, eliminate peak loads, smooth the electricity curve, and reduce demand charges.

(3) Dynamic capacity expansion: The user's transformer capacity is fixed. Generally, when the user needs the transformer to operate at overload during a certain period of time, the transformer needs to be expanded. After installing a matching energy storage system, the transformer load can be reduced during this period through energy storage discharge, thereby reducing the cost of transformer capacity expansion and transformation.

(4) Demand-side response: After installing the energy storage system, if the power grid issues a demand response, customers do not need to limit electricity or pay high electricity charges during that period. Instead, they may participate in demand response transactions through the energy storage system and obtain additional compensation.

3. What are the main application scenarios of user-side energy storage?

User-side energy storage is mainly used for charging stations, industrial parks, data centers, communication base stations and other objects with regular electricity consumption.

Enterprises that build industrial and commercial energy storage power stations can contact WeChat MSENERGY_888

4. What is the investment, construction, operation and profit model of user-side energy storage?

(1) The integrated operator invests, builds and operates. Customers do not need to pay a penny. They only need to provide a site for the construction of the energy storage system. The profits obtained are shared by the integrated operator and the user.

(2) Both parties share the profits. The specific profit sharing is negotiated based on the customer's electricity consumption and the size of the energy storage system.

(3) The user invests in the construction of the energy storage system, and the integrated operator is responsible for operation and promises the customer profits.

5. What is the cooperation period of the user-side energy storage project?

The recommended cooperation period is generally 15 years.

6. How long does it take from contract signing to project implementation?

It usually takes 3 to 6 months from contract signing to project formal operation, depending on the specific conditions and complexity of the site.

7. What electricity standards do companies need to meet to install energy storage power stations?

Currently, the national and local governments have not set conditions for user-side energy storage construction. In Guangdong, it is generally not less than 5 million kWh/year, and in Zhejiang, it is generally not less than 3 million kWh/year. Generally speaking, the greater the electricity consumption, the greater the energy storage capacity that can be configured for the project.

8. What is the floor area of the energy storage power station?

A 1MWh energy storage power station covers an area of about 10㎡, and if the front and back safety distance is considered, it is 20-30㎡.

9. What are the site requirements for installing an energy storage power station?

(1) The site is located outdoors, and there is no hazardous chemical warehouse within 20 meters.

(2) As close to the distribution room as possible, the maximum distance from the distribution room should not exceed 100 meters.

10. Does the installation of the energy storage power station require the assistance of the owner to handle the formalities?

The installation of the energy storage power station needs to be registered on the website of the local Development and Reform Bureau. This procedure is the responsibility of the integrated operator. The owner only needs to cooperate to provide information.

11. How long is the construction period of the energy storage power station? Is it necessary to shut down the power? How long will it take?

After the formalities are completed, the official construction period is about 1-1.5 months; a short power outage is required to install the grid cabinet, and the shortest power outage time is about 2 hours.

12. Who will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the energy storage power station after completion? Is it necessary for the owner's personnel to participate?

For customers who choose an integrated operator, the integrated operator will be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the energy storage power station after completion. At the same time, the owner's relevant staff will generally be given simple training and provided with solutions for special circumstances.

13. Will the energy storage power station increase the owner's basic electricity bill?

No. If it is charged by capacity, the basic electricity fee is fixed. If the billing is based on demand, it is possible that the energy storage discharge will bear the load, reducing the maximum demand and thus reducing the basic electricity fee.

When designing the energy storage capacity, the capacity and load of the transformer have been considered, and the demand will not be increased due to energy storage charging. If the demand is increased, the energy management system (EMS) will automatically identify and stop energy storage charging.

14. Will the energy storage power station cause losses? If losses occur, who is responsible?

If there are losses, the losses have been taken into account and deducted when the two parties share the profits.

15. Is the energy storage power station metering accurate?

Accurate, all electricity metering meters installed are meters that meet national standards and have passed the inspection.

16. Who is responsible for safety problems in the energy storage power station?

If Party B's equipment causes Party A's equipment to fail or be damaged, the losses suffered by Party A shall be compensated by Party B. At the same time, Party B is responsible for insuring the machine damage insurance and all-risk property insurance related to the project during the performance of the contract, and bears the insurance premium. The insured amount of property insurance should not be less than the actual value of the insured property.

17. Do users need to cut off power during the daily operation of the energy storage power station?

The daily operation of the power station does not require users to cut off power.

18. Will the energy storage power station cause power flickering when switching?

No, the energy storage equipment will not have a negative impact on the power quality of users.

19. When the energy storage power station is used for emergency power supply, is it instantaneous access or does it need manual adjustment?

The switching strategy needs to be set in advance. The energy storage equipment is different from UPS and cannot be fully automatically switched.

20. Will the energy storage equipment be replaced after a certain degree of loss, and who will bear the cost?

The main loss part of the energy storage equipment is the battery cell. The health of the battery cell will decrease with the increase of usage time. After it decreases to a certain extent, the integrated operator will be responsible for replacement.

02. Ten major application scenarios of energy storage projects

1. Zero-carbon smart park + energy storage

Traditional industrial parks have many equipments, which have the characteristics of high power consumption, long-term high load, and high energy consumption of equipment. In order to achieve the carbon reduction target, renewable energy is widely used in smart parks, but due to its instability, it will lead to insufficient or excessive power supply. At this time, energy storage system is needed to adjust the supply and demand level.

In the "smart park + energy storage" mode, the energy storage system can collect excess electricity such as solar energy and wind energy, and then supply it to the power grid during the main power consumption time. This can not only stabilize the power grid, but also the energy storage system can provide backup power to the power grid in an emergency to ensure the normal operation of the park. In addition, my country's industrial parks have a high electricity price difference, which is suitable for peak-valley arbitrage of energy storage projects.

2. Commercial complex + energy storage

The integrated implementation plan of energy-saving, energy storage and charging in commercial complexes is a comprehensive solution, including energy saving, energy storage and charging. By adopting energy-saving technologies and equipment, the energy consumption of commercial complexes can be reduced; distributed new energy power stations are installed in commercial complexes, and electric energy is stored through energy storage equipment for commercial entities to use, thereby reducing dependence on traditional energy. In addition, through energy storage equipment, charging piles can also be set up in parking lots, underground garages and other places of commercial entities to provide charging services for new energy vehicles.

3. Data Center + Energy Storage

Under the implementation of the "dual carbon" strategy, low-carbon data centers will be the future development trend. "Renewable energy + storage integration + virtual power plant" is one of the ways for data centers to achieve carbon neutrality. Through digital and intelligent technologies, distributed energy, energy storage, and load are deeply integrated. By establishing the aggregation effect of the upper platform of the virtual power plant, the data center load, renewable energy power supply, and energy storage become an organic whole, achieving a self-generated and self-managed energy autonomous domain in the region, and truly realizing a carbon-neutral data center.

In this process, the energy storage system improves the economy of data center power operation and enhances the power supply reliability of the data center through mechanisms such as peak shaving and valley filling and capacity allocation. While low-carbon and energy-saving, it can effectively prevent accidental power outages in the data center from causing data loss, and improve the safety and stability of the power supply system.

4. Integration of light storage and charging

With the rapid development of the new energy vehicle industry, the demand for charging is also growing simultaneously, and there is still a huge gap in my country's charging pile market. As a new attempt at green economy, "photovoltaic storage and charging integrated charging station" has broad development prospects.

The photovoltaic storage charging station integrates multiple technologies such as photovoltaic power generation, large-capacity energy storage batteries, and intelligent charging piles. It uses the battery energy storage system to absorb valley electricity and support fast charging loads during peak periods to supply green electricity for electric vehicles. At the same time, it is supplemented by the photovoltaic power generation system to achieve auxiliary service functions such as peak shaving and valley filling, effectively reducing the peak-valley difference of the fast charging station load and effectively improving the system operation efficiency.

5. 5G base station + energy storage

In order to meet the growing number and electricity demand of 5G base stations and reduce resource waste, the electrochemical energy storage system has become a suitable choice for 5G base station backup power supply with its flexible, intelligent and efficient technical characteristics.

The 5G base station storage uses intelligent peak shifting, charging during idle time and discharging during busy time, which well solves the pain point that the construction of 5G base stations cannot be smoothly promoted due to power supply problems, and is conducive to vigorously promoting the implementation of 5G base stations and the development of 6G technology.

6. Household + Energy Storage

More and more families are installing photovoltaic power stations as a supplement to energy consumption or a source of electricity bill income. The configuration of energy storage power stations has become an important measure to ensure the safety and stability of household electricity consumption.

Household energy storage usually includes equipment such as batteries, supercapacitors and hot water storage tanks, which can effectively store clean energy such as solar energy and wind energy produced by the family. The advantage of this is that it allows the family to be self-sufficient when needed, and at the same time, it can also sell excess electricity to the power grid, thereby obtaining certain economic benefits.

Household energy storage can help families be self-sufficient and no longer rely on the power grid, thereby reducing household electricity costs. In addition to self-sufficiency, household energy storage can also sell excess electricity to the power grid, thereby obtaining certain economic benefits. When the power quality is poor, it can also improve the power quality by storing electricity and providing power support.

7. Microgrid + Energy Storage

In recent years, my country has vigorously developed island construction. These islands are inhabited by a small number of residents and island militiamen, as well as power-consuming equipment such as mobile signal transmission base stations and maritime radar stations. In harsh natural environments, conventional photovoltaic power generation or wind power generation cannot provide stable and reliable electricity for the islands in this scenario.

Install an off-grid smart island microgrid on this island, use the energy management system to accurately coordinate and control the power generation, energy storage, and power consumption conditions, flexibly allocate the connection methods of each user, and realize the coordinated control and economic operation of "source-grid-load-storage". The off-grid smart island microgrid not only solves the energy consumption problem of island residents, provides power supply guarantee for island and marine development and protection, but also provides a technical template for the construction of smart island microgrids.

8. Mining area + energy storage

In areas such as oil exploration and coal mines, there is no reliable, fixed, and continuous economic power supply. After the energy storage system is configured, when a fault occurs on the grid side or the power supply needs to be stopped for normal maintenance, the battery system on the load side converts the DC in the battery system into AC through the energy storage converter to supply power to the user side.

During normal operation, the time period when the user side draws power from the grid side and the time period when the battery pack stores energy are reasonably allocated by the system controller according to the peak, flat and valley periods of electricity billing. The offshore oil field power grid is a typical island power grid with small power supply capacity and large load capacity. The instant of large load startup and grid failure will cause large frequency fluctuations. Configuring energy storage can effectively improve the frequency regulation performance of the power system and maintain frequency stability.

9. Emergency energy storage power supply

High-power emergency energy storage power supply is a subdivision of the new energy battery industry. It can be simply understood as an "oversized power bank". Among them, portable energy storage power supply can be used in outdoor scenes such as RV travel, night fishing, and outdoor camping. In addition, in the event of a failure in the power supply system of the power grid, the emergency energy storage power system can provide power guarantee for emergency rescue, which can be used in various scenarios such as emergency rescue and hospital backup power supply.

10. Urban rail transit + energy storage

Urban rail transit energy storage system refers to the process of generating a large amount of regenerative electric energy by regenerative braking of urban rail transit vehicles, introducing energy storage system to recover and recycle regenerative electric energy, which is the requirement and development direction for building an energy-saving society in the future.

Flywheel energy storage is the most widely used in urban subways. Flywheel energy storage uses an electric motor to drive the flywheel rotor under vacuum magnetic suspension conditions to rotate at high speed to store energy. When the speed increases, it is charged, and when the speed decreases, it can be discharged. High power density and long life are its technical characteristics. It can not only respond to high-power charging and discharging within 5 milliseconds, but also has a charging and discharging life of up to tens of millions of times.