Solar energy storage in high demand despite long amortisation rates

Sales of large battery systems for solar installations are on the rise despite a decline in new photovoltaic (PV) installations, Walther Rosenberger writes in Stuttgarter Nachrichten. According to the German Solar Association, the number of installed energy storage systems will double in the next two years and surpass 100,000 in 2018. Plummeting prices for lithium-ion batteries have contributed to the brisk uptake. Yet solar PV systems amortise faster, according to industry experts. “Storage currently diminishes the return that can be earned with small solar systems,” says Tjarko Tjaden, of the solar storage systems research group at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences.