Publications

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This paper describes the concept for augmenting the SEGIS Program (an industry-led effort to greatly enhance the utility of distributed PV systems) with energy storage in residential and small commercial applications (SEGIS-ES). The goal of SEGIS-ES is to develop electrical energy storage components and systems specifically designed and optimized for grid-tied PV applications. This report describes the scope of the proposed SEGIS-ES Program and why it will be necessary to integrate energy storage with PV systems as PV-generated energy becomes more prevalent on the nation's utility grid. It also discusses the applications for which energy storage is most suited and for which it will provide the greatest economic and operational benefits to customers and utilities. Included is a detailed summary of the various storage technologies available, comparisons of their relative costs and development status, and a summary of key R&D needs for PV-storage systems. The report concludes with highlights of areas where further PV-specific R&D is needed and offers recommendations about how to proceed with their development.

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Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico, conducts the Energy Storage Systems Program, which is sponsored by the US Department of Energy's Office of Power Technologies. The goal of this program is to develop cost-effective electric energy storage systems for many high-value stationary applications in collaboration with academia and industry. Sandia National Laboratories is responsible for the engineering analyses, contracted development, and testing of energy storage components and systems. This report details the technical achievements realized during fiscal year 1999.

Sandia National Laboratories has been studying Energy Storage Systems since the late 1970s. Sandia started by applying their defense program battery experience to larger stationary systems, eventually joining in the formation of the Utility Battery Group which has since evolved into the Energy Storage Association. Sandia's role, as a Department of Energy funded program is to look ahead at emerging technologies, perform early R and D and identify applications for Energy Storage Systems that offer significant benefit to the nation's electricity providers and users. In order to identify applications of energy storage, a two-phase Opportunities Analysis was conceptualized in FY94. Phase 1 of the project was completed and published in 1995 (SAND94-2605). Phase 2 of the project is an extension of Phase 1 to reexamine the identified applications in the dynamic environment of today. In a preliminary assessment of national benefits, SNL estimated that generation and transmission applications of storage could represent $17.2B in national benefits. In Phase 1 of the Opportunities Analysis, the T and D benefits were found to be significantly higher than previous estimates Phase 2 of the study, which began in late 1998, includes a refinement of the technical and economic understanding of the role of energy storage in the utility industry given the changing nature of the electricity provider industry. This is work in progress and current information is insufficient to estimate market size with a high degree of confidence, especially from a system supplier's perspective. Activity in Phase 2 has so far been primarily focused on the need to re-characterize the near and long-term utility application requirements for energy storage.

A flywheel is an electromechanical storage system in which energy is stored in the kinetic energy of a rotating mass. Flywheel systems under development include those with steel flywheel rotors and resin/glass or resin/carbon-fiber composite rotors. The mechanics of energy storage in a flywheel system are common to both steel- and composite-rotor flywheels. In both systems, the momentum of the rotating rotor stores energy. The rotor contains a motor/generator that converts energy between electrical and mechanical forms. In both types of systems, the rotor operates in a vacuum and spins on bearings to reduce friction and increase efficiency. Steel-rotor systems rely mostly on the mass of the rotor to store energy while composite flywheels rely mostly on speed. During charging, an electric current flows through the motor increasing the speed of the flywheel. During discharge, the generator produces current flow out of the system slowing the wheel down. The basic characteristics of a Flywheel system are shown. Steel flywheel systems are currently being marketed in the US and Germany and can be connected in parallel to provide greater power if required. Sizes range from 40kW to 1.6MW for times of 5--120 seconds. At this time sales are limited but growing. The suppliers of the composite type flywheel systems are currently in the prototype stages of development. Flywheel systems offer several potential advantages. FES systems, as their developers envision them will have exceptionally long service lives and low life-cycle costs as a result of minimal O and M requirements. FES systems are compact and self-contained allowing them to be placed in tight quarters, and they contain no hazardous chemicals nor do they produce flammable gases.