SolarCity and Walmart are working together to boosting solar energy and storage, with a little help from Tesla Motors.
Over the next four years, SolarCity will place new solar power plants in 36 states for Walmart.
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Since 2010, SolarCity has completed 200 solar projects for Walmart. In the past year alone, 50 solar farms on rooftops and carports have been installed. This includes: California, Arizona, New York, Oregon, and Puerto Rico.
10 commercial storage batteries provided by Tesla, each at 200 kW (400 kWh) will be added over the next year. These batteries are bigger than Tesla’s residential version, approximately 40 times bigger (5 kW / 10 kWh).
Battery storage is will be a critical part of addressing some concerns from critics about renewable energy intermittency. Navigant Research has said that advanced utility battery storage markets will go past $2.5 billion in revenue annually by 2023.
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Tesla CTO JB Straubel earlier this year said getting renewables on the grid will drive battery storage over the next ten years. Straubel also said that we are not thinking bold enough on energy storage.
With Walmart leading the way again in US commercial solar power capacity, SolarCity topping residential installations, and Tesla building its gigafactory, these three companies may have a lot of sway where the future of the advance battery storage market will trend.
