By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
What Happened: Our own Yann Brandt, the proprietor of this place, interviewed Josh Prueher, CEO of FlexGen, about the concept of DC-coupled energy storage and what it could mean for the solar industry.
- What are the major advantages of DC versus AC coupled energy storage for solar?
- How does solar start integrating storage in its projects?
SolarWakeup’s View: As the race to unlock the solar+storage market heats up, the idea of DC-coupled storage is an intriguing one. In such a system, the storage devices are placed between the solar modules and the inverter, instead of the traditional configuration of putting it behind the inverter.
“OK, Frank, but what difference does that make?”, I can hear you saying out there. Here’s the difference it makes: It means there are fewer components to install, meaning there are fewer parts to break down. In addition, you eliminate the unnecessary step of converting DC power to AC power (at the inverter) and then back to DC power (at the storage level) and then back to AC to deliver the electricity to the offtaker.
It lowers installation costs and stabilizes the entire project, including the power-output percentage. Such stability makes projects much easier to finance. And if you don’t think financiers are attracted to stability, I’d respectfully suggest you’ve never met a financier.
At the moment, FlexGen is focusing on adding storage to existing C&I and utility-scale projects, but as the technology becomes better understood, Prueher expects it to become another storage option mandated by these projects before they have even begun.
The concept of DC-coupled storage is an interesting one that is just coming into its own – and has the potential to revolutionize the storage industry as we know it.
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