It’s no surprise that within the solar community energy storage is most often discussed in the context of solar+storage. But what about the potential for energy storage where there is no PV system? Whether you’re talking about residential or C&I applications, the truth is that batteries can help optimize anyRead More

Scaling an energy storage system requires stacking both energy (batteries) and power (inverters). Batteries that were designed to be modular can typically be stacked without limitation. However, inverter stacking presents more challenges. The question installers must answer is at what point does it make sense to jump from a multi-inverterRead More

A common misconception is that lead acid batteries cost less than lithium-iron phosphate batteries. However, what most fail to consider is that you have to buy many more lead acid batteries — sometimes double, triple or quadruple as many — just to reach the same usable capacity as you wouldRead More

With extreme weather events, wildfires and other threats to energy security increasing in number and duration, homeowners from coast to coast and businesses from Main Street to Wall Street are contending with an ever-present danger of losing access to reliable power supplies. Beyond emergency scenarios, utilities in California have alsoRead More

Throughout the United States, utilities are now applying rate structures to residential customers’ electricity bills that have historically been reserved for commercial and industrial customers only. These new rate structures, such as time-of-use (TOU) and peak demand, are significantly increasing electricity bills for residential, commercial and industrial customers alike, andRead More

To better serve its network of installers operating in more than 35 countries and growing worldwide, SimpliPhi Power is introducing a new Installer Qualification Program, SimpliPhi I.Q., to provide ongoing continuing education, technical training, sales and co-marketing support to the company’s partners in the field. Two tiers of certification areRead More

  Building on nearly a decade of successful manufacturing and global deployments of high performance batteries, SimpliPhi is introducing a dynamic and scalable PHI High Voltage energy storage solution for commercial and industrial applications that offers the ability to tailor voltage, capacity and power output for project-specific performance. It supportsRead More

The days when a residential or commercial solar installer did not need to know the difference in performance between lead-acid and lithium-based batteries are over. Battery storage has emerged as an unavoidable complement to solar, slashing peak charges and outwitting utility time-of-use charge games, not to mention saving microgrids fromRead More

Recommending a battery to a customer in a solar + storage project is no less complicated than recommending a particular solar array solution. Depending on customer goals of low initial cost, ease of maintenance, frequency of use, depth of discharge, source of recharge energy, longevity and warranty, however, choices narrowRead More

APsystems: True three-phrase microinverters APsystems boasts an industry best-selling 3-phase solar microinverter and the industry’s first true 3-phase (phase-balanced & phase-monitored) unit, the YC1000-3. This model handles 208V or 277Y/480V grid voltages with 900 watts maximum output, 95 percent peak efficiency and comes with ZigBee communication and integrated ground. AtRead More