Batteries are common in so many data centers, and technology has not changed that much. With Solar’s growth, it looks like batteries are the new hot thing. Gigaom’s Katie Fehrenbacher posts on a SF solar trade show.

At a big solar show, batteries take center stage

by Katie Fehrenbacher

6 HOURS AGO

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photo: Image courtesy of Gigaom.

SUMMARY:
While solar companies descend on San Francisco this week, it’s the batteries that everyone’s talking about.

How big will this get?

But one entrepreneur’s attention doesn’t make a market. Energy storage has its own momentum. The entire energy storage market is predicted to explode over the next five years, due to a combination in the growth of solar, state mandates (like the one in California) that are pushing storage, and more unpredictable weather that can cause blackouts and require backup storage systems.

Research firm IHS predicts that the energy storage market (which includes batteries but also other storage technologies) will grow from a small base of 0.34 GW installed in 2013 to an annual installation size of 6 GW in 2017 and over 40 GW by 2022. The U.S. is supposed to be the largest market in the world, followed by Germany and Japan.