What is Battery Storage?
Understanding the technology powering the next generation of clean energy.
What Is Battery Storage?
Battery energy storage often referred to as Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) is a large battery installation that stores excess electricity and releases it later when needed. Think of it as a giant rechargeable power bank for the grid. While solar power continues to grow rapidly across the country, battery storage is becoming an essential partner technology, helping stabilize the grid, increase reliability, and unlock greater value from solar projects.
Key Benefits of Battery Storage
Stores excess solar energy for use later
Improves grid reliability and stability
Reduces reliance on fossil fuel peaker plants
Lowers energy costs through peak shifting
Supports community resilience and backup power
Enables more solar to be added to the grid
Storing Excess Solar Energy
Solar energy is most abundant during midday, but community demand often peaks in the evening. Battery storage solves this mismatch by capturing surplus solar power and releasing it when needed most. This allows solar energy to become a more predictable and controllable resource, improving its overall value and supporting a cleaner, more flexible grid.
Improving Grid Reliability
The electric grid constantly fluctuates based on supply and demand. Batteries can respond within milliseconds to stabilize frequency and voltage, which helps prevent outages and reduces the stress on aging grid infrastructure. For states experiencing rapid solar expansion like Minnesota and Illinois battery storage provides balancing power that keeps the grid strong even as renewable energy grows.
Reducing Fossil Fuel Dependence
Traditionally, utilities rely on natural gas “peaker plants” to fill short spikes in demand. These plants are expensive, inefficient, and carbon intensive. Battery storage can now perform this same role more efficiently and at a lower cost. By shifting energy from high production periods to high demand periods, batteries help replace fossil fuel systems with clean, fast responding alternatives.
Lowering Energy Costs Through Peak Shifting
Energy prices fluctuate throughout the day based on demand. Storage allows energy to be purchased or produced during low demand periods and used during high demand periods. For customers and utilities, this translates into more predictable costs and reduced strain on infrastructure. For solar developers, this opens additional revenue streams such as arbitrage, capacity payments, and ancillary services.
Enabling More Solar on the Grid
One of the biggest advantages of battery storage is its ability to make solar projects easier to integrate into the grid. As more solar comes online, some communities experience congestion at substations or limited transmission capacity. Storage acts as a flexible asset that can absorb generation and discharge it later, reducing impacts on the grid and allowing more renewable projects to move forward without major infrastructure upgrades.
Supporting Community Resilience
Battery storage can also provide backup power during outages, making it a valuable tool for community centers, emergency shelters, farms, schools, and other critical services. This resilience benefit is especially important in rural areas or regions affected by severe weather.
Battery Storage and the Future of Solar
Solar power alone is transformative, but solar paired with battery storage becomes a fully dispatchable, reliable, and grid supporting resource. As policy in states like Minnesota and Illinois continues to encourage renewable development, storage will play a central role in making solar projects more valuable and more dependable for communities.
Battery storage is the bridge between renewable energy generation and a stable, reliable grid. It ensures that clean power is available exactly when it’s needed, helping accelerate the transition to a resilient and sustainable energy future.
