By: Kathie Zipp, SPW editor
Tennessee Solar Solutions has seen a recent uptick in solar+storage projects for its residential and small-commercial customers in the Southeast.
“We have seen a very large increase in clients requesting storage for their installs,” said company president Anthony Roden. “We get many, many calls regarding storage. It is definitely a topic that has a lot of interest.”
Some of the growth in storage can be attributed to the ITC extension last December. GTM Research reported that energy storage deployed with renewables would increase by 33% in the U.S. because of the extended federal tax credits. By 2020, GTM predicts 500 MW of storage with renewable energy projects coming online. Most of this growth will be in the non-residential sector, but all markets will benefit.
Storage doesn’t directly qualify for the ITC, but it can indirectly benefit when paired with renewable projects. Roden said all of his clients’ storage installations have received the ITC because they’ve been installed with a qualifying solar project.
Still, the IRS is considering including storage in technologies that can qualify for the ITC. This would please Roden. “I would be excited if the policy were changed to mention storage specifically,” he said. “As of now, it’s a bit of a gray area. If this happened, I believe we would see a huge increase in installed systems using a storage component.”
Boris von Bormann, CEO of storage solution provider sonnen, acknowledged how the ITC, among other factors, has spurred storage. But he thinks specially noting that storage could qualify for the ITC could push the industry forward even faster.
“Storage is a fundamental part of a renewable energy future and can supply energy security to the grid and increase grid stability,” he explained. “Increasing utility costs will cause customers to seek energy alternatives, such as solar+storage, which will increase demand and drive down system prices. However, to reach the tipping point faster, an incentive program, such as the ITC, would help accelerate market adoption, which is necessary to further develop the renewable push on the grid. While the lack of storage inclusion in the ITC hasn’t necessarily held the storage industry back, it is clear that storage installations paired with rooftop solar receiving the ITC are more attractive.”
Bornmann pointed to California’s oversubscription of existing storage funds in self-generation incentive programs and Hawaii’s consideration of creating a state incentive credit to demonstrate the importance of providing funding options for storage.
“Adding storage to the tax credit eligibility would accelerate the adoption process, enabling utilities to more readily and responsibly meet their renewable energy goals and provide customers with a more cost-effective alternative,” he said.