Climate Changed
Battery Storage Still Needs Solar for Growth
- Costs have fallen 40 percent, but technology still isn’t cheap
- Some solar-charged storage units qualify for federal subsidy
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Batteries are hyped as the fix-it for clean-energy projects that can’t otherwise produce power around the clock. But they may need solar for growth.
While costs have fallen about 40 percent since 2014, storage isn’t cheap. On their own, batteries don’t qualify for federal tax credits. But if a storage unit is charged at least 75 percent by solar, it can qualify for at least part of a U.S. subsidy enjoyed by those projects -- the investment tax credit, according to David Burton, a New York-based partner at Mayer Brown LLP.