At the moment the UK has no discernible incentive to develop an effective energy storage infrastructure, but experts are warning that they’re going to need one soon if they are to reach emission reduction targets and ‘cleaning’ its electricity supply. Without a viable energy storage system, it’s unlikely that we’ll hit our current target of 20 Gigawatts of solar generation by 2020. Many households are utilising solar, and taking advantage of more energy efficient electric heating solutions, but why is energy storage on a national scale so important?
The answer is actually rather simple. Without a decent energy storage strategy, all of our wind and solar generated energy will be susceptable to extreme volatility, with wind subsidies spiraling out of control and capacity issues with the national grid. Germany, who are currently one of the leading forces in renewable energy, are beginning to suffer from similar issues and the UK needs to learn from its neighbours and get ahead of the game.
The success of solar perhaps lies on the ‘edge’ of the grid, in people’s homes and workplaces. If the energy generated by solar panels can be stored in a battery onsite, and network operators can be given control of the excess energy for distribution, we’ll end up with a smoother system where electricity will not be wasted or overload the grid. For this to work, a battery would need to be in 1 in 10 UK homes by the end of 2020, and things are already looking good for solar.
Most of the homes in the UK are still heated via gas central heating systems, but with gas prices fluctuating so much and people’s confidence in big energy companies dwindling, many are seeking to take matter into their own hands and take control of their energy usage through solar. We can’t generate gas at home, but we can generate electricity with solar panels and miniature wind turbines – and technology has improved so much that electric radiators, once regarded as being a drain on energy bills, are now among the most energy efficient and controllable products on the market. Customers can have complete control over their heating systems room by room, with thermostats that are accurate to within fractions of a degree. Times are changing, electricity is becoming the centre of our energy worlds and the Government needs to kickstart the national grid into making sure we’re fully equipped as more people make the switch.