Helion Solar calls the battery storage system a “pioneer project”. Not only will it meet the daily energy requirements, it will even regulate the flow of energy into the building. The storage system will also provide long-term storage in exceptional situations: the building, which should be completed in early summer 2016, is designed to remain energy self-sufficient even during the three-month winter period. The long-term storage system will store the energy from the rooftop photovoltaic system in the form of hydrogen. If needed, it will transform this into energy by means of a fuel cell.
Part of the energy generated will continuously be stored for short- and medium-term needs. As Helion Solar explains, just one hour of solar radiation is enough to provide the building with one day’s worth of energy. The storage system can store enough energy to supply the building with energy for three to four days.
The battery storage system from Helion Solar has a net capacity of 152 kilowatt hours. Conventional apartment blocks have a net capacity of 5 kilowatt hours, explains the company.