Commercial Battery Storage
Store Energy and Put It to Work When Your Business Needs It
For a business, battery storage can do more than provide power during an outage. It can work alongside solar, help manage when electricity is drawn from the grid, and give a property more flexibility in how it uses energy.
The right system depends on the building, its electrical use, and what the business needs the battery to accomplish.
Current Energy works with commercial properties throughout Western Massachusetts to explore how battery storage can fit into a larger energy and electrical plan.
Start With What You Want the Battery to Do
A battery isn’t useful simply because it can store electricity.
The question is what that stored energy can do for your business.
Start there, then determine whether battery storage fits the property and its electrical use.
Commercial Battery Storage Can Serve Different Purposes
Two businesses with similar buildings may have very different reasons for considering battery storage.
One may be looking at high periods of electrical demand. Another may want to get more from an existing solar system. A third may have operations it wants to protect when the grid goes down.
Understanding the problem comes before choosing the equipment.
Manage Periods of High Electrical Demand
Some commercial electric bills include charges based partly on the property’s highest level of electrical demand during the billing period.
For businesses with significant peaks, battery storage may be able to discharge during those periods and reduce how much electricity the property draws from the grid at one time. This is often called peak shaving.
Whether that produces worthwhile savings depends on the business’s utility rate, load profile, and when and how those peaks occur. For some commercial properties, battery storage may provide an opportunity to reduce demand charges by drawing on stored energy during periods of highest demand.
Use More of the Energy Your Solar System Produces
Solar and battery storage can work together.
A solar system produces electricity when sunlight is available. A battery can store some energy for use at another time rather than requiring all of it to be used as it is produced.
For some businesses, that additional flexibility can improve how solar generation fits the property’s actual electricity use.
Build Resilience Around the Loads That Matter
Battery storage may also provide power during an outage, but “battery backup” can mean very different things from one business to another.
Keeping communications, controls, refrigeration, pumps, lighting, or other selected equipment operating is different from powering an entire commercial facility.
The battery capacity, electrical design, available stored energy, equipment being supported, and length of the outage all affect what a system can provide.
The first question shouldn’t be, “How long will the battery run my business?” It should be, “What needs to keep running?”
Storage Doesn't Necessarily Require Solar
Battery storage can also be considered independently from a new solar installation.
That may be relevant when the primary objective involves demand management, resilience, utility programs, or another use that doesn’t depend on generating electricity onsite.
Whether standalone storage is appropriate comes back to the property’s electrical use and what the business expects the system to accomplish.
What Are Demand Charges?
A commercial electric bill may be based on more than the total amount of electricity a business uses.
Depending on the utility and rate structure, part of the bill can be based on the business’s highest period of electrical demand. A short period when a lot of equipment is running at once can therefore affect more than the electricity consumed during those few minutes.
Battery storage can potentially help by supplying some of that power during a peak instead of drawing all of it from the grid.
Not every business pays demand charges, and not every load pattern makes battery storage an effective way to reduce them. The utility rate and the property’s electrical data need to be understood first.
Battery Storage Is Part of the Electrical System
A commercial battery doesn’t operate in isolation.
It has to work with the building’s electrical service, utility connection, loads, controls, and any solar or other energy equipment already on the property.
If resilience is part of the plan, the electrical design also needs to account for what should remain powered when the grid is down. If demand management is the priority, the system needs to respond to the way the property uses electricity.
Current Energy’s background in both solar and electrical work brings those pieces into the same conversation from the beginning.
What Goes Into a Commercial Battery Storage Project?
Battery capacity is only one piece of the decision.
The property’s electric bills, daily load, existing infrastructure, solar production, critical equipment, utility requirements, available incentives, and plans for the building can all affect whether storage belongs in the picture.
Start With How the Property Uses Electricity
Recent electric bills provide a useful starting point, but commercial storage can require a closer look at when electricity is being used.
Does demand remain relatively steady throughout the day? Are there sharp peaks when equipment starts or several systems operate at once? Does usage change dramatically by season?
Those patterns can matter as much as total monthly consumption.
Define the Job Before Sizing the Battery
A system intended primarily for outage resilience may look different from one intended to manage peak demand.
Solar-plus-storage brings another set of considerations. A property hoping to accomplish several things with one battery needs to understand how those goals interact.
Defining those priorities early helps keep the project focused on what the business needs rather than starting with a particular battery.
Look at the Existing Electrical Infrastructure
Commercial battery systems need to connect safely and appropriately with the property’s electrical system.
Service capacity, switchgear, existing solar equipment, available space, utility requirements, and the loads involved may all influence the project.
In some cases, existing infrastructure can also affect the scope or cost of adding storage. Finding that out early is preferable to discovering it after the system has already been planned.
Understand What Resilience Means for Your Business
If outage protection is important, identify the operations that matter most.
A restaurant may have different priorities from a manufacturer, office, retailer, or refrigerated facility. Some businesses may need only selected equipment and systems. Others may have larger operational requirements.
Once those priorities are clear, the battery and electrical system can be evaluated around them.
Consider Solar and Storage Together
If a business already has solar, its existing production and electrical configuration become part of the storage conversation.
If solar and storage are both being considered as new projects, planning them together can help determine how the two systems should interact and how each contributes to the property’s larger energy goals.
Look at Utility Programs and Incentives
Commercial battery storage may qualify for federal, state, or utility programs depending on the system, ownership, location, utility territory, and rules in effect at the time.
Massachusetts has offered programs that compensate qualifying battery systems for helping reduce demand on the electric grid, along with programs affecting solar-plus-storage projects. These can change, so eligibility and current terms should be checked for the individual project rather than assumed from an earlier installation.
The Battery Has to Earn Its Place
Commercial battery storage is an investment in the property’s electrical infrastructure.
Before deciding what equipment belongs there, understand what problem you’re solving and whether storage is a practical way to solve it.
Battery Storage and Solar Don't Have the Same Federal Timeline
Recent federal changes have shortened the incentive window for new commercial solar projects, but eligible energy-storage projects currently have a longer federal runway.
That distinction may matter for a business considering storage on its own or planning solar and storage as separate phases.
Standalone energy storage may also qualify for the federal Clean Electricity Investment Credit without being paired with a solar installation.
Federal rules, deadlines, credit amounts, and tax treatment can change and depend on the project. Businesses should confirm current eligibility with their tax advisor before making an investment decision.
Think Beyond Installation
Battery storage includes equipment, software, controls, and other components that need to keep working together after the project is complete.
Monitoring can help identify problems and provide visibility into how a system is operating. Service, warranties, software support, and the long-term relationship with the equipment manufacturer or service provider deserve consideration before choosing a system.
That matters with any energy system, but particularly with a battery that’s expected to respond when the business needs it.
Commercial Battery Storage FAQs
Does my business need solar to install battery storage?
Not necessarily. Commercial battery storage can potentially be installed as a standalone system. Whether that approach is appropriate depends on what the business wants storage to accomplish and the electrical and utility conditions at the property.
Can a battery reduce my business's demand charges?
Potentially. A battery can discharge during periods of high electrical demand, which may reduce the peak demand recorded by the utility. The value depends on the business’s rate structure and load profile, so the electrical data needs to be evaluated before estimating savings.
Will a commercial battery keep my entire business running during an outage?
Not necessarily. What remains powered depends on the system’s capacity, electrical design, available stored energy, the loads connected to it, and the length of the outage. Identifying critical operations is an important part of planning for resilience.
Can battery storage be added to an existing commercial solar system?
In many cases it may be possible, but compatibility with the existing solar equipment, electrical system, utility requirements, and proposed battery needs to be evaluated.
Are there incentives for commercial battery storage in Massachusetts?
Federal, state, and utility incentives or programs may be available for qualifying projects. Eligibility varies by project and can change over time, so current requirements should be verified when the system is being evaluated.
How do I know what size commercial battery I need?
There isn’t a useful one-size-fits-all answer. Battery sizing depends on what the system needs to accomplish, the property’s electrical use, the loads involved, and how long or how often the battery may need to supply power.
Plan the Installation Around the Lot
Building over an active parking area takes coordination.
Parts of the lot may need to close temporarily for foundations, structural work, electrical installation, and equipment access. For a business or public facility, that work needs to be considered alongside customer parking, employees, school schedules, public access, deliveries, and normal operations.
How the property needs to function during construction should be part of the planning.
Let's Talk About What You Need Storage to Do
You don’t need to know what battery you need or how large the system should be before starting the conversation.
Tell us about the property, how you use electricity, whether you have solar, and what you’re hoping battery storage can accomplish.
We’ll start there.
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