Growth of storage is silver lining for Germany’s dwindling PV market

The increasing amount of PV installed in combination with electrical storage options is bucking the trend in the opposite direction for overall residential solar installations in Germany.

That was one of the key messages from this morning's proceedings at the Energy Storage Europe conference in Dusseldorf, which winds up on Tuesday.

The second day of the conference played host to a number of related conferences, one of which is the VDE Institut Financial Dialogue event. At a panel session titled 'Tapping into the lucrative markets for energy storage', it was clear that while none of the participants sees storage as a "goldmine" of financial opportunity, many in the industry believe electricity storage can both boost the viability of a PV system – especially in the residential market – and add value as part of a 'whole system approach' that could include connection with smart metering and thermostats.

The session's moderator, Logan Goldie-Scot of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said that at a grid level, storage represents an interesting opportunity for a small number of "first mover" players in specific markets, such as the grid-balancing frequency response market operated by utility PJM or the German primary reserve market.

However, as Goldie-Scot and panellists, including representatives of residential system manufacturer Sonnenbatterie and solar inverter specialist SMA, explained, the residential market is where most companies expect to see the greatest stability, starting with the example of Germany.

A full version of this story is available on PV Tech Storage, here.