Storage Batteries the Future for Energy Storage

摘要

South Africa (SA) is following the global trend of Renewable Energy (RE), this energy is clean with no pollution to the environment. Solar energy particularly is one of the fastest growing RE system due to its simplicity and lower maintenance. Solar energy can be used for micro projects such as street lighting, installed on roof tops to power factories directly, home installations and major plants connected to the grid. As per study conducted by Department of Energy (DoE), SAs average sunlight hours is 2500hrs per year and radiation level is 5.5kWh/m^{2. That makes the solar energy the most attractive. Such energy needs storage facility to be preserved to later use. Batteries are known for their ability to store energy for later use. Storage batteries have evolved a lot with time. With different types of batteries on the market, Lithium ion batteries are emerging to be the best hope of storage. This paper intends to present why Li-ion is the future for RE storage.}