Energy Storage

Solar energy is no longer a fringe pastime for tree lovers but a $100 billion industry these days with 35 GW of installation expected in 2013 alone. Note solar energy is set to grow rapidly as it reaches the inflection point with solar energy costs reaching grid costs in a majority of countries today. Wind energy has also stabilized at the 20-30 GW level per year, as wind energy costs have become competitive and green energy mandates make wind attractive to utilities and developers.

Also read on GWI Why Energy Storage will be the Biggest Gainer from Solar Grid Parity.

1) Peaking gas power stations

2) Demand Response

3) Hydro and Compressed energy storage

However, new ways will need to be found as the size of solar/wind energy becomes large. Energy storage will become more popular especially for home owners looking to become independent of utilities. Energy storage prices will also come down as the manufacturing scale increases. Note prices in the industrial production come down with growth in size. This has been commonly seen in other green sectors as well. This creates a virtuous cycle of more demand and lower prices. Energy storage stocks have taken a massive beating as they were probably too early in the game. A123 Systems and others failed being taken over cheaply by bigger companies. The survivors should do well and there are some good listed ES stocks that you can look to buy in the US markets. However the biggest players such as LG Chem are not attractive, given that ES is a small portion of their overall revenues.