Solar and wind powered systems
Solar or wind powered systems are increasingly used as a renewable energy source in buildings, industrial plant, oil & gas installations. They all require batteries, whether they are stand-alone, hybrid or grid-connected systems.
Stand-alone
Stand-alone applications include off-grid photovoltaic systems and wind turbines. The batteries provide energy storage (Wh) for long discharge periods of hours or days.
Hybrid
Hybrid power applications include wind-hybrid systems and photovoltaic (PV) -generator systems. Much smaller batteries are sufficient as the system draws energy from multiple renewable energy sources. The battery covers peak power demands. The system can bridge to diesel generator or fuel cell operation in the event of extended periods without sun or wind.
Grid-connected
In grid-connected applications, batteries are used to stabilize solar and wind generation and provide sufficient output stability and ramping control to make it compatible with power networks.
Furthermore, batteries can make PV installations energy self-sufficient by storing surplus energy for night periods. In fact, PV energy becomes predictable and dispatchable when stored in batteries, i.e. it can be used or injected to the grid in high demand periods.
Reduced maintenance
In all cases, visits by skilled maintenance teams must be kept to a minimum. Batteries must withstand:
Saft
Sunica.plus nickel-cadmium (Ni-Cd) and
NHE nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries are specially designed for these applications.