"It is a relatively new development, but due to grid congestion things are suddenly going very fast," says Martin Valentijn, director at Energy Shift. Previously, as the name suggests, the company purely sold solar panel installations for agricultural entrepreneurs. Valentijn: "There are more and more options, we would be doing the farmer a disservice if we only recommended solar panels."
And that is why they have been selling more and more energy storage systems in recent years. How exactly does that work? Valentijn explains: "Many entrepreneurs have to deal with the negative consequences of grid congestion (there is sometimes so much electricity that the grid cannot handle it). For example, they can no longer get a connection, or they have to deal with negative electricity prices."
Revenue model
The solution according to the solar energy specialist is a combination of three things:
Valentijn: "By combining these three things you relieve the burden on the power grid and at the same time create an interesting additional revenue model for your company."
3 x 80 Ampere connection
Energy storage is also becoming interesting for entrepreneurs with a small-scale consumer connection. It is wise to increase the connection to the largest small-scale consumer connection, namely 3 x 80 amps. This allows as much power as possible to flow through the connection, which means that you have more options to buy or sell energy at the right times.
Solar panels
A few years ago it was advised to install just enough solar panels to generate your own annual consumption. That is now a thing of the past. Because the more electricity you generate, the more electricity you have to trade with, and that is where the revenue model lies.
Energy storage
On average, an energy storage system of 150 kWh is sufficient. But more or less is also possible. You assume that you charge and discharge the battery every day. It is a buffer to use yourself and to trade with. A battery is not suitable for storing energy for a long time - such as weeks or months.
Smart Energy Management System (S-EMS)
Valentijn: "We sell an extra intelligent Energy Management System with our energy storage systems." It is an upgrade to the standard EMS that normally comes with batteries. "With our extensive S-EMS, the system will determine fully automatically and based on weather forecasts and electricity prices when electricity should be stored, purchased or sold."
More information
On the website of Energy Shift is more information about energy storage and find its benefits. Discover here the different batteries or question a quote without obligation .