Düsseldorf / Hyderabad | September 29, 2026
In several markets, solar now covers a large share of electricity demand at midday, but its output drops sharply after sunset. Storing that power for the hours when the sun isn't shining is becoming a top priority for the industry.
The shift is visible in the numbers. According to BloombergNEF, 112 GW/307 GWh of energy storage (excluding pumped hydro) was installed globally in 2025, with 158 GW/459 GWh forecast for 2026, despite a global slowdown in solar PV additions. Ember estimates that batteries installed in 2026 could shift 34% of new daily solar generation into the evening.
"For years, the solar industry's main question was how cheap a module could get. Now the question is what a solar kilowatt-hour is worth at 8 pm. That is why leading module makers are presenting themselves as solar-plus-storage providers, and why storage has moved from an add-on to the core of the business," said Michael Schmela, Managing Director of TaiyangNews.
The industry's trade shows reflected it too. At SNEC 2026 in Shanghai, roughly 6 exhibition halls were occupied by energy storage exhibitors, compared with 4 for PV modules. It was the first time storage had taken up more exhibition space than solar at the show.
TaiyangNews' new Storage and Inverter report reviews the latest energy storage, inverters and power electronics from SNEC and Intersolar Europe 2026.
Key findings
Home: Storage is becoming part of a wider energy setup. Beyond well-known solar-plus-battery systems, exhibitors showed plug-in storage for balcony PV, expandable batteries, backup systems, and products that work with EV chargers or heat pumps. Software that schedules charging around household use and electricity tariffs is becoming a common feature.
Utility scale: The most visible change was the amount of energy being packed into each battery enclosure. Larger cells and denser designs may reduce the number of units needed for a project. The report also looks at PCS, inverters, transformers and switchgear, a range of power electronic components that convert power and connect solar and storage systems to a load and/or the grid. Modular conversion units and factory-assembled connection equipment featured prominently.
Commercial and industrial: C&I storage follows a different pattern. Many of the systems shown were cabinets that bring batteries, cooling, safety equipment, power conversion and controls into one enclosure. They can reduce peak demand, shift consumption away from expensive hours, or provide backup. Their connections to existing PV systems, generators and additional battery units vary with the needs of the site.
Multi-segment: Broader product ranges spanning homes, businesses and utility projects show how manufacturers adapt storage to each scale: modular batteries for households, integrated cabinets for C&I sites and larger battery blocks for grid projects.
"The battery block is only part of the installation. The equipment that connects it to the grid also matters as much. Many systems at this year's shows combined batteries, power conversion, safety equipment and controls in one enclosure. Software that schedules charging around household use and electricity tariffs is becoming a common feature. That's where the market is headed to," said Shravan Chunduri, Head of Technology at TaiyangNews.
The report also covers sodium-ion products, whose potential benefits include operation in cold conditions and higher cycle life, as well as transportable power systems, solar-powered equipment, and combinations of PV, storage and EV charging for remote or temporary sites. A final section looks beyond the exhibition floor, with examples of batteries shifting solar output into later hours, supporting grid resilience, coordinating smaller energy assets and changing their role as a site's needs, or market opportunities, change.
The products are arranged in 8 sections by main application or function. The report completes TaiyangNews' 3-part review of the 2026 shows, following the reports on solar modules and mounting systems, and cell and module production equipment and materials.
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Sources
· Ember, "Batteries have unlocked the era of anytime solar," August 2026. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/batteries-have-unlocked-the-era-of-anytime-solar/
· What Ember says: In H1 2026, on the average day, the Netherlands (58% at 1 pm) and Germany (55% at noon) met more than half of their midday demand with solar, and solar fell to zero by 9 pm in both.
· "Moving that power into the evening is becoming the industry's central task." Ember's Global Electricity Review 2026 (https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/global-electricity-review-2026/global-electricity-insights/ ) says that where midday solar shares are already high, further solar growth will be difficult without batteries, and solar needs to be stored during the day and released at night. It also says batteries will play a key role in unlocking the next stage of solar growth.
· "Storage is where much of its product development now happens." TaiyangNews' July 17 article (https://taiyangnews.info/technology/key-product-trends-from-snec-intersolar-2026-storage-surges-bc-scales ) says energy storage emerged as the dominant trend at SNEC. It also reported that storage took 6 halls vs 4 for solar, the first time storage's footprint exceeded solar's at the show.
· BloombergNEF, "Energy Storage Enters the 100-Gigawatt Era: Three Things to Know" (June 17, 2026)
https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-energy/energy-storage-enters-the-100-gigawatt-era-three-things-to-know/
· PV Magazine attributes both figures to BNEF's Energy Storage Market Outlook 1H 2026: https://www.pv-magazine.com/2026/05/11/bloombergnef-confirms-energy-storage-has-reached-the-100-gw-era/
· Energy-Storage.news does the same: https://www.energy-storage.news/bloombergnef-forecasts-158gw-of-global-energy-storage-deployments-in-2026/
