Mike Hopkins sells an ice machine that stores energy.
It's not sexy technology, he points out.
But his Santa Barbara
The business based on Ice Energy is growing rapidly.
Greg Smith touted more space.
Age method for sonnbatterie energy storage in Los Angeles.
His company made a home unit of stylish cabinets the size of a refrigerator.
It can power a home for up to two weeks in an emergency.
NEC Energy Solutions provide energy to Southern California Edison and other large utilities.
The battery is large, roughly the size of a mobile home.
The three companies are pioneers in the field of energy storage. See the most-
It costs a lot of money to read stories> big batteries this hour.
But concerns about climate change and consumer demand for clean energy are creating more demand for energy storage solutions --
In particular, the possibility of adequately capturing alternative energy sources.
Can solar and wind provide stable power generation.
The sun goes down at night.
The cloud blocked the road.
The wind stopped.
At these times, utilities need a backup power supply to balance the load.
At the same time, families and businesses want to store rooftop solar energy and use it later in the day or at night.
"Storage provides a way to temporarily store excess energy, including renewable energy, when it is rich in energy and expensive --
Efficient and inject it into the grid when needed, "said Anne Gonzalez, spokesman for California's independent system operator, who conducts overseas distribution in the state.
The country is gradually expanding its market demand.
The California Utilities Commission set a target of 1,325 MW for utilities in October 2013.
More than half of the capacity of the shut-down San Onofre nuclear power plant-
Add online storage by 2024.
So Tim Derek, Senior Solutions general manager for renewable energy giant SunEdison, said: "storage will move quickly . ".
"The old power generation model is dying out," he said . ""Grid 1. This is dead.
We are accelerating the development of the third grid. 0.
"Registered free California company"
Commercial communications> Ice Energy is part of Grid 3. 0.
In the past 10 months, the company's business has tripled. dozen years.
The main product of Ice Energy is Ice Bear.
Outside, it looks like any other metal box on the roof of some commercial building.
Inside the unit is an ice machine that needs to be replaced with water every 20 years.
When the commercial electricity bill may be lower, the ice is frozen at night.
When the weather gets hot the next day, the energy of the air conditioner-
The pig compressor is closed and the cold water of the Ice Bear is fed into the air
Adjustment device for cooling.
The water was then recycled back to the Ice Bear. "The air --
"Air-conditioning equipment creates spikes on the Internet," said Hopkins, chief executive of Ice Energy . ".
Basically, ice bears, known as thermal storage units, save power during the most expensive peak hours of electricity use.
Instead of replacing air conditioners, it helps them run more efficiently.
Sonnenbatterie is ready to sell another energy storage system to the United StatesS. homeowners.
The German company was recently established in the United States. S.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, a pilot program is underway with 50 units.
The company is building a manufacturing plant in San Jose and a R & D operation in Atlanta.
For the maximum 6 KW units, the cost of the battery system ranges from $10,000 to $24,000, which Smith says can last two weeks to power the house in an emergency.
These units are enclosed in cabinets and can accommodate the decoration of most homes and are installed by any solar installation contractor. The lithium-
Ion batteries store power from solar roof panels and can run electrical appliances when the sky is dark.
In theory, pair the solar system with this battery (
Tesla of Elon Musk is also making similar equipment)
It is possible to allow the home to be disconnected from the grid.
"We can really save money for people connected to the grid," said Greg Smith, senior technical trainer at Sonnenbatterie . ".
"Don't use energy from the grid.
"No one expects the grid to disappear soon.
Large power producers are also keen on battery storage to help them balance their power load, especially with the increasing availability of solar and wind access to the Internet.
NEC Energy Solutions in Westborough.
Completed a project for Southern California Edison this summer. The 2. 4-
Orange's megawatt storage facility provides power to 500 to 750 households.
This is the first energy storage system to support Edison's distribution network.
The battery bank sits in a large container half the size of a tennis court.
"Energy storage is becoming an increasingly common part of today's power grid, and our installation and commissioning processes enable energy storage to be delivered like any other utility, bud Collins, chief executive of NEC Energy Solutions, said in announcing the Edison project.
David Song, spokesman for Edison, said the battery system was not designed to accommodate renewable energy.
"Its main purpose is for reliability," he said . ". ivan. penn@latimes.