Benefits of Energy Storage for Landowners
If you're thinking about leasing land for solar, you should also be thinking about batteries …
Fifteen years ago, solar panels were uncommon and now, in some locations, they’re on more rooftops than not. Ten years ago, seeing a single electric vehicle on the road would be enough to turn heads, but now electric vehicles (EVs) are filling up the roadside charging stations. The parallel transition in the clean energy space is happening right at this moment for energy storage.
BloombergNEF forecasting a 122-fold boom of stationary batteries over the next two decades thanks in large part to an 85% reduction in battery costs between 2010 and 2018.
Despite this growth, a lack of familiarity with the technology and its potential impact on the land may prevent folks from taking advantage of the myriad benefits of energy storage. Much like leasing land for solar, leasing land for energy storage or solar-plus-storage (paired solar PV and battery storage) can benefit both landowners and the clean energy transition.
From an economic, sustainability, and operational standpoint, battery storage presents a triple threat, so helping landowners understand this rapidly evolving sector—and opportunity—is mutually beneficial.
To understand why energy storage is a great option for landowners today, let’s start by answering some frequently asked questions that we get all the time (and you may be asking yourself!).
Why Energy Storage?
Historically, power on the grid has flowed in one direction (from generation to transmission to distribution to customers) but with more and more customers producing their own power, i.e., solar panels at businesses or residences, power is now flowing in multiple directions. The grid was not built for this. Nor was it built for the proliferation of extreme weather events produced by climate change.
The future of energy depends on our ability to store it. We need energy storage to accelerate the clean energy transition, reduce costs, and increase reliability for businesses, utilities, and communities.