Battery energy storage systems (BESSs) are powerful companions for solar photovoltaics (PV) in terms of increasing their consumption rate and deep-decarbonizing the solar energy. The challenge, however, is determining the effectiveness of different BESSs considering their technical, economic, and ecological features. To this end, this paper present. ••Batteries are compared using the proposed bottom-up assessment framework.••The economic-ecological-efficiency analysis is conducted for batteries.••The deep-decarbonization effectiveness of batteries is analyzed.••Vanadium redox batteries outperform lithium-ion and sodium-ion batteries.••Sodium-ion batteries have the shortest carbon payback period.Carbon emissionEconomic-ecological efficiencyLi-ion batteriesRedox-flow batteriesSodium-ion batteriesRenewable energyARFB Aqueous Redox Flow BatteryBESS Battery Energy Storage SystemCPI Competitive Price IndexCPP Carbon Payback PeriodDSCR Direct Self-consumption RateEOL As more and more countries commit to meeting the net-zero goal by 2050 to help curtail the rise in global temperatures, decarbonizing the electricity sector has become one of the most efficient ways to achieve this goal. The sector contributes up to 73.2% of the global emissions in 2020 as a result of the substantial use of fossil fuels in electricity production. Thus, a shift toward renewable energy generation has become a global initiative. Only 5% of global electricity generation came from renewable sources in 2016, and this number is expected to at least double in 2040. In this regard, the seventh Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), defined as offering affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all, state a clear objective of increasing the share of renewable energy in total energy consumption. As a result of the impressive growth and deployment over the years, the period from 2010 to 2021 has witnessed a seismic shift in the competitiveness of renewables. Solar energy has experienced the greatest increase in adoption since 2010, with the global cumulative installed capacity of all solar photovoltaic (PV) panels increasing from 40 GW to 843 GW. Meanwhile, the levelized cost of utility-scale solar generation has fallen by 88% over time and is now at 0.048 $/kWh, compared to 0.057 $/kW for fossil fuel-generated electricity in 2010. However, the current reduction in the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) is not sustainable since the cost of PV systems will eventually reach equilibrium as t.
