We caught up with Kirk Stokes, director of sales at Sharp Electronics – Energy Systems and Services Group, to tell us more about why solar contractors should consider its storage system as an option for the commercial installations, the economics of solar storage and what its featuring at Solar Power International 2016.
Solar Power World: Can you briefly describe what Sharp’s SmartStorage energy storage system is and why it’s a good fit for commercial solar + storage projects? What’s the differentiator?
Kirk Stokes, director of sales at Sharp Electronics
KS: The SmartStorage system predicts demand spikes to cut expensive demand charges by keeping instantaneous demand power in reserve. The system uses state-of-the-art lithium-ion batteries from Samsung SDI. We find that hybrid installations generally have better returns. Solar tends to narrow the peak and storage will lower the peak. A key component of Sharp’s offering is our 10-Year Asset Management Service Agreement. This is available for all SmartStorage installations and it includes operations and maintenance as well as our innovative 10-Year Demand Reduction Performance Guarantee. If guaranteed demand reductions are not met, Sharp will compensate for the deficit in promised peak demand reductions. The system is warrantied for 10 years and Sharp includes maintenance and service for 10 years.
SPW: I know at Intersolar you presented on the economics of storage. Is storage becoming more economical, especially when combined with solar? In what sector/market?
KS: Peak demand charges are the fastest growing part of utility bills for commercial and industrial customers and can represent up to 50 percent of a customer’s monthly utility bill. A solar plus SmartStorage solution for demand reduction with lithium ion batteries does not require substantial space for deployment and does not require operational changes to achieve a reduction in demand usage. A hybrid system could benefit office buildings, retail, light manufacturing, schools, electric vehicle charging stations, multi-family housing and hotels. We have found that it really depends on the individual energy usage profile of the property in question, which is dictated by the site’s operations. We are able to present specific expected savings to a customer following review of the property’s historical load profile.
We’ve found that the commercial and industrial market is currently the sweet spot for our product because building owners and operators are paying such high demand charges, often above $20/kW per month. The market need is most immediate in California and Hawaii as well as northeast states like MA, NY, and NJ and southwest states like CO, NM, and AZ. Massachusetts, Arizona and Colorado because those are the markets where peak demand charges are at their highest.
SPW: What options does Sharp provide to help make financing storage projects easier?
KS: Our SmartStorage solutions are available with our innovation 10-Year Asset Management Service Agreement and Demand Reduction Performance Guarantee, both of which are the foundation for establishing bankability of our system. We recently announced our solar plus SmartStorage financing offer for commercial hybrid solar plus SmartStorage projects. This financing program is setting the precedent for financing options for solar plus storage to a wide audience, and we believe we are able to do so because our system is recognized as a bankable solution. Financing is critical to advancing energy storage adoption.
SPW: I know you’ll be speaking at SPI on the Advanced Modeling Software & Controls for Optimizing Solar Plus Energy Storage Systems panel on Tuesday. Can you give us a preview of what your discussion will be there and why it what solar developers can expect to learn if they attend?