Overview of battery energy storage system advancement for renewable (photovoltaic) energy applications

Abstract

Due to the fickle nature of the weather upon which renewable energy sources mostly depend, the need to balance energy demand from renewable energy supply through reliable energy storage systems (ESS) becomes essential. The common categories of ESS technologies in the recent time include the mechanical, electrical and electrochemical (or battery) energy storage systems. While most of these technologies are not commercially viable at present due to some of their limitations, the battery energy storage system (BESS) are having incremental market entries and continual improvements for use in different renewable energy applications in transportation, energy back-up, smart grid systems etc. In this paper, the advancements of BESS in renewable (photovoltaic) energy applications are reviewed alongside other ESS. It is of importance that as we approach the electric future, there is also a need for smart storage technologies which would be commercially viable and with the continual improvements in battery technologies, in comparison with other developing ESS, BESS may not be obsolete in the near future but rather contribute to a faster realization of smart electric future as their continual advancements continue.