Virtually all homes built in California from 2020 will be required to incorporate solar panels— a policy move being seen as encouragement to ramp up battery storage in the state.
The California Energy Commission, which approved the policy on 9 May as part of the state’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards, said in terms of homes the move would “encourage demand-responsive technologies including battery storage”.
According to the Commission, “because smarter buildings perform better and affect the grid less, the standards also include voluntary options to install technology that can shift the energy use of the house from peak periods to off-peak periods”.
The new policy applies to all new homes, condos and apartment buildings up to three stories high as of 1 January 2020.
The president and CEO of the US Solar Energy Industries Association Abigail Ross Hopper said: “The combination of rooftop solar and the option to add energy storage systems as an efficiency compliance credit provides builders with an attractive, cost-effective option to fully electrify homes. This is an undeniably historic decision for the state and the US.”
Last December, electric utility Pacific Gas and Electric Company asked regulators in California to approve proposed deals for six new lithium-ion battery storage projects, which would see an additional 165MW of energy storage capacity built in the state.
The request was in line with requirements for investor-owned utilities in California to procure a combined total of 1,325MW of storage by 2020— of which PG&E’s share is 580MW.
Earlier this month, the US Department of Energy announced a $30 million shot in the arm for energy storage research to develop developing “innovative technologies for long-duration energy storage on the power grid”.
