What it solves

Seven problems that storage and charging solve

Storage and charging make most sense where power is expensive at certain hours, unreliable, or limited by the connection. Find the problem that sounds like yours, see what a battery does about it, and what we'd look at first. If none fits, a study will tell you whether storage is the answer at all.

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One site, four connections: solar, battery, charger and genset. Schematic, not to scale.

Peak & demand

Cut peak-hour and demand charges

On Tamil Nadu's high-tension (HT) tariff, energy used from 6–10 am and 6–10 pm costs 25% more, and the demand charge is billed on the higher of your highest 15-minute demand or 90% of your contract demand. Spiky loads set the bill.

Peak shaving: demand held under a set limit. Schematic, not to scale.

What the battery does

Caps 15-minute demand under a limit the energy management system (EMS) enforces
Moves consumption out of the two peak windows
Supports a formal contract-demand reduction

What else it touches

What we'd look at first

12 months of bills and 15-minute data
Contract vs recorded demand
Which loads cause the spikes

Typical sitesSpinning mills, foundries, engineering units, cold stores, hotels and malls with cooling peaks.

When it isn't the answerYour recorded demand already sits well below the 90% floor and you cannot lower contract demand, or a demand setting or process change removes the spike more cheaply.

Roles we typically play

In force · FY2026-27 revision pending (as of 23 Sep 2026); control period ends 31 Mar 2027

Source: TNERC, Tariff Order No. 6 of 2025 (opens in a new tab) (30 June 2025, effective 1 July 2025).

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Backup

Keep critical loads running

Intensive care, operating theatres, imaging, cold rooms, continuous processes and server rooms lose money, product or more when the supply dips or drops, even for seconds.

A hospital wing on battery backup, the cabinet in a fenced yard. Schematic, not to scale.

What the battery does

Instant backup and ride-through, where islanding is designed and approved
Works alongside the UPS for the most sensitive loads
Bridges until the genset picks up, or covers the outage entirely if it is short

What else it touches

What we'd look at first

Critical-load list and single-line diagram
Outage and genset logs
Space and separation from occupied areas

Typical sitesHospitals, pharma and labs, cold chain, data rooms, continuous-process plants.

When it isn't the answerThe loads are already well served by an existing UPS and genset, and dips are rare; then maintenance or a UPS battery upgrade may be enough.

Roles we typically play

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Genset hours

Run the genset less

Gensets are sized for the worst case and spend most hours lightly loaded, which wastes fuel and wears the engine. Short outages start them for minutes at a time.

The genset stays off while the battery carries the load. Schematic, not to scale.

What the battery does

Covers short outages so the genset may not start at all
Lets the genset run at efficient load when it does run, and stop sooner
Handles motor starts and transients

What else it touches

What we'd look at first

Genset run hours, starts and fuel records
Load readings during outages
Outage durations over a year

Typical sitesHospitals, hotels, telecom sites, ice plants, rural and coastal processing units.

When it isn't the answerOutages are rare and the genset is small and well loaded. For very long outages the genset stays essential; a hybrid still helps, but the battery's share is small.

Roles we typically play

In contextRules also direct diesel generator (DG) users toward cleaner backup, including energy storage, on timelines set by State Commissions. New gensets up to 800 kW have had to meet CPCB IV+ emission norms since 1 July 2023.

Source: Ministry of Power (PIB), Development and Deployment of Energy Storage Capacities to Power Reliable Renewable Future (opens in a new tab) (18 December 2025).

Source: CPCB, Genset emission notifications (opens in a new tab) (in force 1 July 2023).

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Solar shift

Use more of your own solar

Rooftop and captive solar peaks at midday, while the expensive hours come after sunset. Surplus is exported, banked or curtailed at low value, or held back by a zero-export limit.

Midday solar charges the container for the evening. Schematic, not to scale.

What the battery does

Stores midday surplus for the evening peak
Keeps export within limits without curtailing
For captive plants, energy passed through storage to the captive user now counts as captive consumption

What else it touches

What we'd look at first

Generation and export data
Inverter make and warranty terms
Net, gross or open-access arrangement

Typical sitesCampuses, factories with rooftop solar, captive and ground-mount plant owners, repowered wind–solar hybrid sites.

When it isn't the answerAlmost all your solar is already used on site, or your arrangement already credits exports at close to the peak-hour value.

Roles we typically play

In contextEnergy passed through storage between a captive plant and its captive user counts as captive consumption under the Electricity (Amendment) Rules 2026. A Central Electricity Authority (CEA) advisory asks solar projects to co-locate storage of at least 10% of their capacity for at least two hours.

Source: Energetica India, Govt notifies Electricity (Amendment) Rules 2026, clarifies captive power ownership and consumption norms (opens in a new tab) (March 2026).

Source: Ministry of Power (PIB), Development and Deployment of Energy Storage Capacities to Power Reliable Renewable Future (opens in a new tab) (February 2025 (advisory); PIB, 18 December 2025).

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EV charging

Charge vehicles on the connection you have

A fast charger draws heavy, short peaks; a car park full of AC points adds up. The connection, the transformer and the demand charges set the limit long before the parking bays do.

Three chargers sharing one connection under a solar canopy. Schematic, not to scale.

What the battery does

Buffers fast chargers from a smaller connection
Works with load management that shares capacity across chargers
Stores daytime or solar energy for evening charging

What else it touches

What we'd look at first

Vehicle types and how long they stay
Connection size and tariff category
Parking layout and cable routes

Typical sitesHotels and highway stops, apartments under the new building rules, campuses, fleet depots, fuel stations.

When it isn't the answerChargers will be busy all day at steady power, or a connection upgrade is cheap and quick; then a bigger connection usually beats a buffer.

Roles we typically play

In contextThe national EV charging guidelines (2024) de-license charging, set timelines for new connections and allow storage alongside chargers. Tamil Nadu's amended building rules, as reported, require charging provision in new buildings above set thresholds.

Source: Ministry of Power (copy hosted by WBSEDCL), Guidelines and Standards for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure, 2024 (opens in a new tab) (17 September 2024).

Source: DT Next, EV charging facility made mandatory for bigger buildings in Tamil Nadu (opens in a new tab) (8 November 2025).

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Thin grid

Power where the grid is thin

At the end of long feeders, on the coast and on islands, supply is weak or absent, diesel is expensive to bring in and technicians are few.

Solar, storage and a genset serving a small coastal settlement. Schematic, not to scale.

What the battery does

Forms a microgrid with a grid-forming power conversion system (PCS)
Cuts genset hours with solar
Keeps essential loads on through feeder outages

What else it touches

What we'd look at first

Load and resource assessment
Existing genset condition
Access and service logistics

Typical sitesFishing harbours and ice plants, estates, resorts, telecom sites, island communities.

When it isn't the answerA reliable grid extension is planned and near; then a smaller backup solution may be enough in the meantime.

Roles we typically play

In contextAn Indian example, and not a CHE Energy project: SECI's on-grid solar plants with battery storage at Kavaratti, Lakshadweep, dedicated in January 2024, have a combined 1.7 MW of solar and 1.4 MWh of storage.

Source: PIB, Kavaratti's First On-grid Solar Power Plant with state-of-the-art Battery Energy Storage System (PRID 1993036) (opens in a new tab) (4 January 2024).

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Grid scale

Support grid-scale storage projects

Tamil Nadu is procuring grid-scale battery storage at TANTRANSCO substations. Developers and utilities need specifications, factory checks, local balance-of-plant work, commissioning support and long-term operations and maintenance (O&M), all to strict availability and efficiency terms and the CEA rules that take effect on 1 April 2027.

A generic substation yard, not a specific site. Schematic, not to scale.

What the battery does

The owner's use case: peak supply, firming and grid support

What else it touches

What we'd look at first

Tender specification and contract terms
Site and interconnection documents
O&M scope and availability definitions

Typical sitesStorage developers, EPC contractors and utilities with projects in southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Roles we typically play

Source: TNERC, Order in M.P. No. 7 of 2026 (adoption of tariffs for battery energy storage) (opens in a new tab) (26 February 2026).

Source: CEA, Technical Standards for Construction of Electrical Plants and Electric Lines (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 (opens in a new tab) (Gazette, 23 June 2026).

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Not sure which fits?

Start with your bills

Send us 12 months of bills and a line about the site. We'll tell you which of these problems you have, and whether storage, charging or neither is the answer.

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Call +91 7200788891WhatsApp (opens in a new tab)info@che-energy.in