New guide and study shows what's in store for our energy future

The Clean Energy Council is launching an Australian-first home energy storage safety guide in collaboration with CSIRO, along with a national study of storage safety to show what is in store for the future of energy in Australia.

While many people are interested in the future possibilities of solar and storage technology, Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Kane Thornton said very little information existed to answer the questions consumers have about the technology.

“The safety guide prepared by CSIRO is full of useful information on how to manage safety concerns, information on different system types, maintenance and much more. The CSIRO has also prepared a safety checklist to help consumers make decisions on battery purchases,” Thornton said.

The consumer safety guide and the energy storage safety report highlight key challenges for regulators, retailers and installers while seeking to increase consumer understanding of battery storage.

Most estimates suggest that energy storage will quickly fall in price and become mainstream technology within several years.

CSIRO Energy Group Leader Dr Sam Behrens said the report identifies a number of safety challenges and knowledge gaps to overcome in the next few years, as energy storage technologies undergo rapid deployment across Australian domestic and small commercial markets.

“We’re seeing a lot of momentum with domestic energy storage system safety among government, industry and research bodies, so this is a timely point to release our findings,” said Dr Behrens.

Thornton said the lead-out time provided the industry with a rare opportunity to work on standards and regulations to ensure the integrity of energy storage technology before it had been widely adopted.

“The CSIRO Energy Storage Safety report takes an in-depth look at the different kinds of batteries, best practice safety and installation requirements, safe operation, disposal and recycling of energy storage products and systems,” he said.

“The independent CSIRO report identified a lack of information on battery systems in general, as well as a need for standards to be updated for these new technologies, Australian battery disposal and recycling initiatives, and better education for emergency services.

“The good news is that the Clean Energy Council has already started work to address many of the recommendations in the report through our Australian Energy Storage Roadmap, which we released at the beginning of the year.”

The report also considers household users as well as installers and designers of energy storage systems, taking into account what impacts these systems may have on the environment.

The CSIRO’s top recommendations are:

• Improve awareness and access to information on the variety of battery energy storage technologies and their appropriate operation and care among consumers, designers and installers.
• Research and identify the best methods for lithium-ion battery storage system recycling and establish a lithium-ion battery recycling initiative.
• Research and identify the best methods to safely (passively) extinguish domestic and small commercial-scale lithium-ion battery storage fires.
• Align Australian and international standards, and improve local regulatory and building codes relevant to energy storage systems.
• Establish a set of best practices specific to the battery storage industry, including development and upkeep of an installation, maintenance and incident reporting database for energy storage systems in Australia.
• Develop training and nationally recognised accreditation pathways for designers and installers specific to energy storage in domestic and small commercial scales.

The safety guide and energy storage safety report were completed as part of the Clean Energy Council’s Future-Proofing in Australia’s Electricity Distribution Industry (FPDI) project, which is receiving funding support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

Energy Storage Safety: Common consumer questions and the report Energy Storage Safety: Responsible installation, use and disposal of domestic and small commercial systems are available on the Clean Energy Council’s website.