Storage Costs To Hit $100 Per kWh

The cost of electrical storage is expected to plummet to $100 per kWh in the next few years. Currently, it costs between $200 and $250 per kWh according to industry experts. Elon Musk recently stated that he'd be very disappointed if it took a decade to reach the $100 per kWh milestone. Storage costs are essential to eliminate the so-called “intermittentcy problem” which tends to keep the mainstream from embracing solar energy. That problem is actually shared with conventional fossil-fuel generators. In fact, conventional fossil-fuel plants have unscheduled outages which last far longer than solar outages. But, the utilities pretend that this intermittency problem should limit the amount of renewables placed on the grid. It's only a plot by these investor-owned corporations to retain their profitability, though. With the addition of storage to solar arrays, the uptime from solar generators will come very, very close to 100% and far outstrip the service record of fossil fuel plants. Thus, it's very important that storage costs continue dropping. We think $100 per kWh is just a minor milestone toward much lower costs. The additional storage will mean that solar-based microgrids will be feasible to keep the lights on with no intermittency at all. If we're right, solar will become the predominant source of electricity in the next decade. And, the grid itself will likely fade to insignificance.

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