As temperatures soared to record highs across Japan this summer and people scrambled to beat the heat, power companies turned to solar power to weather the surge in air conditioner usage. After the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which forced the shutdown of all nuclear power plants—most of which are still offline—Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry had asked the country to conserve electricity during the hot summer months, Nikkei reported.
But thanks to the rise of solar power, the Japanese government has refrained from issuing requests since 2016, with Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko saying on July 24 that special energy-saving efforts were currently unnecessary.
Utilities usually release their summer power demand forecasts before hot weather arrives. In May, they predicted the hottest summer in a decade, but said they would likely have a 3{0b7da518931e2dc7f5435818fa9adcc81ac764ac1dff918ce2cdfc05099e9974} supply capacity over expected demand—the minimum reserve needed to ensure stable supplies.
A representative of Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings, or Tepco, said that during times of peak demand, the company can obtain nearly 10 million kilowatts of solar power, or about 20{0b7da518931e2dc7f5435818fa9adcc81ac764ac1dff918ce2cdfc05099e9974} of total power needed.  A substantial portion of this is provided by companies and households equipped with solar panels, which sell their surplus power to the utility. Before the 2011 earthquake and subsequent Fukushima Daiichi disaster, nearly 30{0b7da518931e2dc7f5435818fa9adcc81ac764ac1dff918ce2cdfc05099e9974} of Tepco’s annual electricity output were nuclear-derived. Now, despite operating no nuclear plants and having suspended operation at two oil-fired power plants, the utility seems to be doing fine.
“It is safe to say that Tepco’s strategy hinges on solar power,” a company executive said. Declining electricity usage has also helped. Peak power demand in summer decreased by about 12{0b7da518931e2dc7f5435818fa9adcc81ac764ac1dff918ce2cdfc05099e9974} in the fiscal 2016 from fiscal 2010, due in part to changing public perceptions regarding energy and the rise of energy-saving appliances. Still, this summer, more than half of Japan’s utilities have already recorded higher-than-expected demand.
Kansai Electric Power had thought it had enough capacity but came up short on July 17 and July 18, forcing it to take corrective measures in the form of “negawatt” transactions and power interchanges.

Never heard of Solar Batteries? It’s Time To Get Educated!

You may be wondering what solar batteries are, or may have heard of them, but not a great deal. Ready to hear everything you never knew?

A solar battery is really just a battery charged with energy from solar panels; however, adding a home solar battery can have huge benefits, including allowing more solar energy usage that equates to energy savings, for backup power, if the grid happens to go down. Installing solar batteries enables peace of mind and maximizes electricity usage produced by your solar panels. Also, people want the ability to
power their homes when the sun goes down, thus having a solar battery gives you that freedom, and just makes sense. Home batteries are the best, yet simplest way to utilize the power of solar energy. Bottom line: having a solar battery system saves you money. It’s that simple.

Solar Battery History – A Brief Timeline

The 1970’s was a pivotal time for lithium-ion battery technology, when it was first introduced. Of course back then, its growth was slow, until the 90’s, when more devices had lithium-ion, (the lightest of all metals) capabilities. Technology began booming around that time and green energy kicked in the door as the solution for our planet’s sustainability. Now, lithium batteries are everywhere.

What Solar Batteries Does Plug It In Solar Carry?

So glad you asked! We are a certified carrier of top brands, such as the Tesla Powerwall, LG Chem, and Sonnen Battery.

Tesla Powerwall Solar Battery

Tesla Powerwall solar battery is 100{0b7da518931e2dc7f5435818fa9adcc81ac764ac1dff918ce2cdfc05099e9974} self-powered, with continuous seven-plus days of power during an outage. The Powerwall is simple and compact and completely automated. It also installs simply and easily, either on your floor or mounted indoor or outdoor – with NO maintenance. Better yet, you can monitor and control your energy from anywhere with the touch of your smartphone. Want a 10-year warranty, time-based control, and operating temperatures of -4 ℉ to 122℉? You got it!

LG Chem Solar Battery

Like the Tesla Powerwall, LG’s Chem solar battery improves energy efficiency by maximizing the renewable energy quality that stabilizes the power system supply. What this means is that the battery will enable your energy supply to stay stable, by storing and supplying electricity that your solar panels produce. Highly reliable, you can count on LG Chem to maintain a stable structure from frequent discharging and charging.

Sonnen Solar Battery

Clean and affordable energy can be achieved with a Sonnen solar battery that optimizes self-generated power, leaving electricity bills in the dust. The Sonnen Battery integrates easily with existing solar systems for both day & night power. This battery is easily adaptable to your needs, saving you from energy costs and consumption. The best part, it comes with a 10-year or 10,000 cycles warranty.

Call Plug It In Solar Today!

As your solar panels and solar battery headquarters, we welcome your call to our excellent customer service. It’s our commitment to our customers and our planet to assess needs and offer solutions to fit your lifestyle and budget. Contact Plug It In Solar, in Van Nuys, CA, and let’s get you energy-sustainable!

August 17, 2018John Weaver

I wonder what it’s like when you sign off on one of the largest solar power projects in the United States, at the lowest price in the country. And if that project is going to pay an effective 1.795¢/kWh in 2043, you’ve got to be real confident in your numbers when asking a banker for a few hundred million.

Martin Hermann of 8minutenergy, while at Intersolar North America 2018, took the time to sit down with pv magazine to talk about building the future.

People don’t expect the extent and the speed. It’ll be much faster than expected.

That was Hermann expounding upon what’s about to hit us in the form of wind, solar and batteries at the utility scale level. From his perspective, it all comes down to technology progression, which Hermann saw in the form of Moore’s Law in his prior semiconductor career.

When Hermann said he saw no reason for the price decreases to stop – and expressed a strong desire to continue being in the lead of that attack – you could sense a certain inevitability, where he knew there was no potential future other than one with an aggressive, ongoing evolution.

Hermann predicts that among the first casualties of the rise of solar and storage will be the gas peaker plant, something that pv magazine agrees with. Hermann estimated that a 4-hour duration battery bidding into the day ahead markets at 3.5-6.0¢/kWh beats a gas peaker plants by “leaps and bounds”.

But to be in that market, you’ve got to understand what you’re buying. It wasn’t until recent times when you could have control over defining the bill of materials of a solar module. However, to deliver on what’s promised in an industry with an inherent conflict of new technology versus thirty five year life times, you’ve got no choice but to focus on that level.

The advantage of scale is that we can afford to dive deep. We have a history of looking under the hood, and because of our scale, we’ve now got the luxury of dictating our bill of materials.

It does not appear that 8minutenergy has bill of material problems.

During the interview the combination of solar power and energy storage was regularly referenced. And much like bill of material research is important for solar modules, 8minutenergy says it is the same with batteries.

While the company wouldn’t comment on whether they had any longer duration battery projects in the queue, Hermann did state that longer duration was important, but that he didn’t think we’d need “24 hours of batteries”.

The company has an 8.5 GW portfolio of solar projects. Last year, when it published its official entry into the energy storage market, the company did so with a 1 GW pipeline of projects.

I guess if you’ve got to start somewhere, pick a nice round number.

pv magazine started the interview had a number technical, system design, type of questions: DC:AC ratios, battery duration, inverter technology, solar module choice, which are all topics we’re seeing constant developments in. The reaction to these industry shifts was consistent – analyze it, take advantage of it, and move on.

What do we do about solar power driving daytime pricing towards zero – sometimes being curtailed? What are the consequences? Hermann flipped it:

The answer is not whether we should do this. We are successful if we’ve driven the price to the point where you don’t have to pay. And I expect this to continue.

Chaos embraced, but managed.

DC to AC ratios increasing? It’s not magical, but for very specific reasons. The final values are being driven by the sizes of their inverters, the pieces of land they’ve cobbled together, the offtaker’s needs. As Hermann stated, everything is “economically driven”.

What about using SolarEdge inverters on your modules? “If the price point is strong” was the quick answer. SolarEdge should call.

Bifacial solar panels? “A new calculation dynamic”.

Hermann’s answers pointed to the inevitability of a future full of change, full of evolution, quantified as best as you can by knowing your product, and hedged by heeding the risks.

That’s how you get a few hundred million for the lowest priced, and among the largest solar power plants on earth.