Energy storage can be powerful, and like many powerful systems, it’s stronger when it’s curated by experts. Energy storage consultants and specialists can help you simplify these complex systems and figure out the best way to find the perfect battery energy storage system (BESS) for you.

BESS consulting services can help large businesses design, implement, and perfect better energy storage systems, minimizing risk and improving financial gains.

Why Hire a BESS Consultant?

As businesses grow and energy systems have become more intricate, they’ve become more complicated. This intricacy means there are endless minute adjustments that can be made, providing enterprises a long list of metaphorical levers they can use to produce different outcomes. 

For example:

  • Utility tariff rates
  • Demand charges
  • Incentive programs
  • Battery modes and decay over time

 

Every one of these factors can be adjusted in multiple directions, and expert energy consultants can fine-tune these levers to maximize the savings for large businesses. While savings and efficiency can seem minor at the outset, for companies thinking long term, these minor adjustments can be what determines if an energy storage system is a success or a failure. This failure can look a lot of ways, including:

  • Systems dispatching at inefficient times
  • Missed opportunities in response to demand
  • Failure to take optimal advantage of tariffs
  • Lack of up-to-date insight into performance

 

For large businesses looking to avoid coming up short on their savings predictions, the importance of BESS feasibility assessments can’t be overstated. Skilled consultants can help companies understand these complex systems and use them to their maximum benefit.

Designing the System

Modeling is the foundation of building a successful energy storage system. Accurate modeling is necessary for planning a system’s operation and for determining if it’s worth the investment. For these models to be accurate, they need precise inputs. This is another reason consulting services are so helpful.

Let’s look again at the list above:

  • Utility tariff rates
  • Demand charges
  • Incentive programs
  • Battery modes and decay over time

 

The complex intersection of these factors is where tools like the ETB Developer from Energy Toolbase are so powerful. Advanced modeling systems like this allow businesses to accurately predict how these systems will run in real-world conditions over long periods of time. Energy systems are built to last, and companies run a risk of a failed investment if they aren’t able to predict costs and savings into the future.

Implementing the System

With accurate modeling, a large business may decide to implement a system. Then, the need for expertise shifts to performance, and EMS controllers become integral. Professional BESS consultants can provide these tools and guide companies on how to best use them.

An EMS controller is the brain of a storage system. It determines when the system charges and discharges, and it does so based on careful planning and by adjusting to changing conditions. The best of these tools are dynamic, continually addressing a number of factors, such as energy pricing and use.

When these systems aren’t perfectly dialed in, a battery might discharge at a less than optimal time, and these minor misses add up. BESS consultants help companies make sure nothing falls through the cracks.

Running the System

Whether a business is planning to build a battery storage system or is looking for insights into one they already have, they need a high-quality monitoring system.

These systems provide:

  • Alerts for underperformance and anomalies
  • Real-time data
  • Comparison to predicted savings
  • Data tracking for comparison
  • Notices for faults in storage

 

Consultants help companies make sense of these outputs and correct systems that have space to be optimized. Without expertise on their side, large businesses might be running a storage system that’s functioning poorly and leaving money on the table.

Consulting at its Best

BESS consulting services are necessary for large businesses, regardless if they’re considering building a new system or fine-tuning an established one. 

Schedule a call today with Energy Toolbase today to see how we can optimize your energy storage system with ETB Consulting. We offer BESS consultancy for enterprises in financial modeling, software, and analytics, and we can help ensure you’re getting the most out of your investments.