While the authorities are increasingly talking about the mandatory use of solar energy storage batteries, which should be regulated by law, experts are analyzing whether it will be a worthwhile investment. Everyone agrees that it is necessary to store solar energy so that it does not happen that at a certain moment there is more electricity than is needed, and at another moment, when there is no energy from renewable sources, it is too expensive. The assessment that batteries increase the investment is also common, and there are variations in the estimates of how much the increase in costs really makes this energy attractive.

According to the initial announcements of the President of the Energy Regulatory Commission Marko Bislimoski, batteries will increase the investment by 20 to 30 percent, but the European Commission offers serious subsidies for batteries and he is confident that they will also apply to our country, which means that there will be no significant investment increased.

- The amendments to the Law on Energy introduce the possibility of bringing by-laws for batteries. Most likely, anyone who builds a photovoltaic will have the obligation to install batteries with installed capacity, which will be able to accumulate 10 to 20 percent of the total production of electricity - said Bislimoski.

The state must subsidize households

The president of the Macedonian Center for Energy Efficiency (MACEF), Professor Konstantin Dimitrov, in a conversation with "Sloboden Pechat" says that he has a positive opinion about the use of batteries, but that they are expensive for the citizens and subsidies from the state are necessary.

– It is an expensive but worthwhile investment. The batteries make it possible to use all the energy that will be produced. But by installing 6 kilowatt collectors on the roofs, there is no reason to invest. There is logic at least with 10 or 12 kilowatts. Also, the entire investment is profitable in the long term, therefore, in order for households to invest, subsidies from the state are necessary - says Dimitrov.

He explains that citizens, by using the batteries, can significantly help in balancing the electricity in the entire system, because it is unstable, but also improve the voltage level.

Regarding companies, says Dimitrov, it is absolutely recommended that they use storage batteries.

- Thus, they will be able to distribute the use of energy even during the period when there is no sun, and they will be able to "cut" the peaks in their consumption. Those peaks occur when their consumption is higher than usual, but all energy consumed is calculated at the higher price that applies to such peaks. Thus, if they plan a higher consumption, they can "cut" the peak with stored electricity from the batteries - explains Dimitrov.

According to Dimitrov, the very increase in the amount that needs to be invested in the mass-built photovoltaic power plants can also be seen as a positive thing.

- The pressure to build photovoltaic power plants will be reduced, and those who will build even with batteries with a capacity of 25 percent of the total production of electricity, will shift the increased flow to the time period when electricity is most needed and most expensive - says Dimitrov.

Investors can get stuck in loans

Dejan Trajkovski, a professor at the Technical Faculty of the University "St. Kliment Ohridski" from Bitola. He shared the extensive analysis on Facebook, and it generated enormous interest. Trajkovski says that the cost of storage with lead batteries is 6,8 times higher than with lithium-ion batteries, but that they are also not profitable now.

"The bottom line is that at current lithium-ion battery prices, PV (photovoltaic) power still doesn't pay for itself, at least in the evenings. In the future, the price of lithium-ion accumulators (batteries) will probably decrease, but for now this is how things are. If the state introduces an obligation for the mandatory construction of battery banks in addition to PV farms, it can very easily happen that investors in PV production facilities will never be able to recover their invested money, especially if they took out a loan for that purpose," Trajkovski wrote.

He says that even the state is looking for salvation from the energy crisis in PV plants, unjustifiably giving up on thermal power plants and neglecting hydropower plants, even though the latter should be our priority.

"The excess supply is already showing the first results, introducing a low daily tariff for households, and it also gives chances to restart some energy-intensive industries that were closed as unprofitable in the past years. But with cheap energy during the day we are only halfway to solving the problem, and a comprehensive solution requires solving the problem of storing and delaying the use of energy in the evening. The solution is usually sought in accumulator batteries (battery banks) or in reversible hydropower plants, which we currently do not have. This is exactly where we come to the biggest problem, the cost of energy storage", emphasizes the professor.