Interest in storage solutions from industrial off-grid end-customers and project developers, is steadily increasing according to energy experts, THEnergy.

At the end of April, Tesla Motors launched its energy storage solutions.  For the solar- or wind-diesel hybrid energy plants, the company introduced the Powerpack a solution for larger applications.

The biggest impact on hybrid applications is of an indirect nature. Until now, the decision-making process for hybrid solutions was mainly rational with a focus on short-term pay-off periods.

Frequently, storage solutions were not even considered because they were notorious for being expensive. The lack of awareness of competitive storage solutions often ended the purchase process before it even had begun.

The hype around the Tesla announcement draws additional attention toward all storage solutions, including battery usage in solar- and wind-diesel hybrid projects. In many cases, Tesla creates an awareness of storage solutions that was missing before.

Decentralised energy solutions

Decentralised energy solutions enable regions to prosper that were not connected to the grid before, just as many users in developing countries today have mobile phones but no landlines previously.

This comparison from the mouth of an influential visionary like Elon Musk helps to create awareness that the future of energy generation will be decentralised to a considerable extent. Tesla’s market entry will contribute to make the whole “pie” of decentralised energy solutions grow.

This is good news for the existing storage manufacturers and solution providers. On the market side, they can expect a general growth which can only partly be covered by Tesla. Most likely, that there will be more than enough space for other players in the electrical storage market.

All storage providers are in a better position to convince their investors that they are in an attractive business field, but do not need to fear that Tesla will crowd them out in the near future.

Through expert panels, THEnergy tracks energy-related developments in many industries such as mining, tourism, food / agriculture, IT / data centers and telecommunications.

“After Tesla’s storage introduction, we observed that more and more industrial and commercial end-customers actively ask for information about energy storage solutions”, points out Dr. Thomas Hillig, founder of THEnergy.

In hybrid applications, storage can be used among others for (load) peak shaving and stabilising volatile renewable energy sources.