2.2GW Of Installed Solar Storage Projects In The US In 2021

According to a survey report recently released by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), which is affiliated to the U.S. Department of Energy, 2021 is a “breakthrough year” for the deployment of photovoltaic + energy storage projects in the United States. Among the projects, 67 are photovoltaic + energy storage projects.
According to researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), the total installed capacity of solar-plus-storage projects in the United States in 2021 will be 2.2GW, while the total installed capacity of independently deployed energy storage systems will be 1.8GW. In addition, the total energy storage capacity of the PV+storage project is 7GWh, while the independently deployed energy storage system is 3.5GWh.

Looking ahead, the report pointed out that by the end of 2021. There will be 285GW of photovoltaic + energy storage projects and 19GW of wind + energy storage projects in the grid-connected queue in the United States.

Hybrid and co-located energy projects (primarily PV+storage) have seen a surge in installed capacity across the U.S.. Driven by falling battery prices and growth in variable renewable generation.

As of the end of last year, the United States had installed a total of 298 hybrid energy projects with a total installed capacity of 35.9GW, Including 3.2GW/8.1GWh of energy storage systems. Nearly half of the projects are PV+storage projects, while the rest are hybrid deployments of wind power, fossil fuel power plants, nuclear power plants and other energy facilities.

The report claims that about 74 hybrid energy projects in the U.S. came into operation last year. A 32% increase compared to 2020; the total installed capacity was 6.1GW, a 21% increase compared to 2020, and these projects cover storage with more than 1MW of installed capacity project. Many of these projects involve installing battery storage systems to complement existing photovoltaic farms in California and Florida, the researchers said.

In addition, the researchers say there will increase 70% in hybrid deployment energy projects in the grid-connected cohort by the end of 2021 compared to 2020.

More than 35GW of PV+storage projects in the grid-connected queue have implemented interconnection agreements, the report said. The execution of the interconnection agreement is a key project development milestone.

According to the researchers, 95 percent of PV systems and 42 percent of wind facilities in the interconnected cohort in California’s independent system operator’s service area have installed energy storage, the highest percentages of any region in the United States.

The researchers noted in their report, “There is no doubt that California’s commercial interests stem from the state’s energy policy, but are also driven by the wholesale pricing model because high PV penetration, which creates an Arbitrage opportunities that don’t exist in most other wholesale markets.”

The researchers also said that the price of purchase agreements for PV+storage projects will fall over time.