Dive Brief:
- NEC Energy Solutions this week announced it is seeking partners to install a new lithium-ion Distributed Energy Storage System (DESS).
- The systems are scalable from 85kWh to 510kWh of capacuty and offers from 30kW up to 650kW of power capability.
- Commercial availability of the systems is expected in the first quarter of 2017 in North America; they are designed to be modular installations that most electricians would be able to handle.
Dive Insight:
NEC Energy Solutions new DESS aims to satisfy two growing trends in the energy storage space: modular designs which can be installed simply and quickly, and the ability to provide wider services back to the grid in order to maximize revenues associated with the system, similar to what Tesla CEO Elon Musk is seeking to do with its takeover of SolarCity.
“We have long understood the value of energy storage at the edge of the grid,” NEC Energy Solutions CEO Bud Collins said in the company's announcement. The new platform, he said, enables customers to "easily offer a host
of new energy management services to their C&I enterprises in the sub-megawatt scale."
He added that the DESS platform removes complexity from the installation while boosting reliability, "allowing our customers to focus on creating new energy management business models.”
Collins also spoke with Greentech Media, explaining the company strives to create a battery system "so simple that your average three-phase electrician would have no trouble installing it.” It is a segment becoming increasingly crowded in the energy storage space, with competing offerings from Gexpro, Tesla and Schneider Electric.
The NEC Corp. subsidiary describes its storage system as a standardized, UL safety-certified, AC-ready system that includes a power conversion system and is "compliant with all relevant regulatory and environmental requirements." And the company said the system's controls software package will offering different operating mode allowing them to switch from cost savings by demand charge management to revenue earning by providing system services.
The systems will roll out next year in North America, followed later in the year by global offerings.
