> Large scale batteries are now viable as a storage mechanism for renewables They are economical viable for solar for 3-4 hours every night, which is where the

> Large scale batteries are now viable as a storage mechanism for renewables They are economical viable for solar for 3-4 hours every night, which is where they are being deployed. The article talks primarily about the UK with wind being the primary energy source, and so rather than a solar cycle of 24hrs you have wind fluctuations with lulls. The article calculate this to about 1200 GWh. The articles I have seen on solar + batteries is a capacity of 80% for 4 hrs. I have not seen clear numbers but I would guess that they do get a fairly high discharge rate each day, thus providing an return of investment when the price is at its highest point each day. For wind you would need to have as much capacity as the worst lulls, and they would only really return profits during the lulls (if we do not count subsidizes). There would be some profits from slews, but most of the cost would be going to capacity that isn't needed for most part of the year.