Franklin Home Power Solution
A home energy storage system stores heat or electricity locally when it is readily available for later consumption. The most common types of energy storage systems are electric batteries, heat batteries, and thermal storage systems.
Home energy storage systems store generated electricity or heat so that it can be used when needed at a later time. Electricity can be stored in electrical batteries or converted into heat and stored in a heat battery; while heat energy can be stored in heat batteries or thermal stores, such as hot water cylinders.
Home energy storage is very useful in renewable energy systems as it permits the storage of low-carbon energy. It stores energy from solar photovoltaic cells, wind turbines, or hydropower systems. For instance, electricity generated during the day by solar PV panels could be stored in an electric battery so that it can be used for domestic purposes at home when the solar PV panels are no longer generating electricity.
Electrical Battery Storage
Electrical batteries are rechargeable batteries made of either lithium-ion or lead acid and controlled by a computer system with intelligent software that handles charging and discharging cycles.
The size and cost of an electrical battery depend mostly on the current energy use and the energy generating source.
Do you want to plan future electricity use in your home, you should consider Franklin Home Power. It has all the features you need in an energy storage system. It stores electric energy up to 43Mwh and comes with a 12-year warranty.
Electric batteries can also be used to store electricity from the grid at cheaper rates. This helps to reduce reliance on electricity during peak periods when electricity is more expensive. Also, some tariffs provide the option to sell back the stored electricity during peak periods.
Some electricity storage systems like Franklin Home Power provide smart management to allow users to track their energy usage online.
Heat Storage
There are two main types of heat storage: thermal storage and heat batteries.
Thermal storage
Thermal stores are buffers or vessels that store excess heat from a domestic renewable heating system. It is a method of storing and managing renewable heat until it is needed. It is a large, well-insulated cylinder, often called an accumulator tank, that stores heated water.
Thermal stores provide space heating and hot water pressure. It comprises heat exchangers, usually internal coiled pipes or external flat-plate, and an electrical heating element such as an immersion heater. It stores heat from renewable technologies such as biomass boilers, solar water heating systems, and heat pumps.
Benefits of a thermal storage
- Allows management of the difference in time between when heat is available and when it is needed. For instance, hot water produced by a solar water heating system during the day can be stored to be used when little or no solar energy is available.
- Enables water to be heated by a secondary heating source such as a conventional boiler or electric immersion heater.
- Requires minimal maintenance and is easy to install. A thermal store can be sited almost anywhere in a property (as long as the header tank is higher than the heating systems).
- Enables renewable heating systems to work more efficiently.
Heat Batteries
Heat batteries store either spare heat or electricity generated by renewable energy systems. The heat battery stores heat in a material called phase change materials (PCM) when it changes from the solid to the liquid phase. The spare heat or electricity charges the PCM inside the heat battery. When heat is needed, the PCM changes back to a solid phase with a heat release, which is used to provide hot water on demand.
Heat batteries are smaller and have less weight than thermal stores. It can be conveniently installed in any location that can't contain traditional hot water cylinders. Heat storage batteries are more durable than electrical batteries and have a longer lifespan.
US Energy Storage Systems
In 2021, the United States had approximately 325 GW of renewable installed capacity; this lends credence to the need for energy storage in the country. Pumped-storage hydropower (PSH) is the country's most popular form of energy storage. It accounts for 95 percent of utility-scale energy storage. According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Pumped-storage hydropower (PSH) increased by 2 gigawatts in the past decade. It is interesting to note that Virginia has the largest pumped-hydro storage facility in the world; this facility supplies power to about 750,000 homes.
Even though PSH has been the most common energy storage in recent years, the focus of technological advancement has been on battery storage. Although several other battery storage technologies are emerging, lithium-ion batteries are one of the fastest-growing. Lithium has notable features such as high energy density, high power, near 100% efficiency, and low self-discharge. Also, the U.S. has 750,000 tons of lithium in reserve.
Before 2020, battery storage in the country was quite negligible. However, since 2020, the country's battery storage capacity has been steadily increasing. In 2020, the US had a 1.4GW battery storage capacity. In 2021, it increased to 4.6 GW, which is an increase of 220% from the preceding year. Also, within the first nine months of the year (2021), battery energy storage had 19,607 installations; this is 1.5 times higher than the preceding year. This surge in battery energy storage caused the US lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity to increase, growing at the rate of 60 GWh/year in 2021. It is projected to reach 100GWh/year by the end of 2023.
Currently, the US has 7.8 GW of utility-scale battery storage. There is also a projection that it (the country's battery storage capacity) will significantly increase by 2025. It is projected to reach 30.0 GW by 2025; with 75% of the battery storage installations taking place in Texas and California.
Note that ancillary services such as frequency response and ramping/spinning reserve were the main use cases of battery energy storage over the last decade. However, in recent times, batteries now provide additional services like arbitrage, load management, etc.
All these allude to the fact that storage technologies are becoming more efficient and economically viable in the country. Notably, the economic value of energy storage in the U.S. is worth $228.4 billion.
Franklin Home Power
Franklin Home Power is an energy storage system that stores and manages energy use and consumption in the home. It allows the users to save electrical and renewable energy during peak periods so it can be used during periods of high demand.
With Franklin Home Power, you can implement different economic and energy-saving electricity schemes in the home. Franklin Home Power has several outstanding features, such as:
- Bill saving
- Solar black start
- Generator backup management
- Smart circuit management
The Franklin Home Power uses LFP AC coupled battery and smart algorithm technology to provide reliability and sustainability as an energy storage system in the home.
