As we closed out the first quarter of 2022, the energy storage industry continued to show stunning growth. When scrolling through the news, reading studies, and attending events, one can’t help but notice how critical battery energy storage is to a myriad of markets and industries. As innovative technologies emerge at a breakneck pace, they reveal three key trends in both market priorities and the sector’s current and future direction.

Vitaliy Daviy is the CEO of emerging markets focussed cleantech organization IB Centre Inc. and holds an optimistic view of Ukraine’s sector after the war. According to him, the country has the keys to energy independence and security.

On Feb. 10 in Belfort, President Emanuel Macron announced his vision for the French global energy industry to 2050. He reaffirmed France’s desire to massively develop renewable energies as intermittent sources on top of the baseload provided by the nuclear industry whose revitalization has already made headlines since. Macron claimed they are “the only means to meet [our immediate energy needs] in a profitable and competitive way”. By 2050, the capacity of the French solar park should be multiplied by more than 10 to exceed 100GWp, while the onshore wind capacity could double to reach 37GW. Offshore wind power should also experience a real take-off as France aims to develop and build 40GW over the same period.

As the world woke up to the news of war in Ukraine, the German Bundestag called a special session at which the finance minister, Christian Lindner, announced a package of measures in response to the crisis. A key plank, he said, would be a new focus on renewables.

This year International Women’s Day focuses on #BreakingTheBias and celebrating women’s achievements and increasing visibility in schools, universities, communities, and workplaces. One of the sectors where the participation of women needs a boost is the energy sector, says Evrydiki Fekka, Head of Lithium Batteries Product Management at Sunlight Group Energy Storage Systems. In this article, she argues that women are key to unlocking a greener future for our energy needs.

The clean power numbers published annually by the International Renewable Energy Agency provide a snapshot of the global solar market and, this year, a lot of figures were unchanged from the previous dataset, especially in the off-grid segment.

Covid-19 has left Shunfeng International’s accountants unable to publish its official 2021 numbers on time, but its estimated figures announced a net current liability of almost $155 million and a “capital deficiency” of near $140 million.

Polysilicon maker Xinte is forging ahead with a huge expansion strategy just as solar developers at the opposite end of the industry continue to bleed cash.

Lack of locally-denominated finance, and of sufficiently long-term loans, are well established hurdles to the development of photovoltaics in Africa.

A decade on from energy rationing, head of state Sheikh Hasina is poised to announce the achievement of an historic goal which has been made possible with the help of off-grid photovoltaics.

UK-based Xlinks plans to build 10.5 GW of wind and solar in Morocco and sell the power in the United Kingdom. London-based investment firm Octopus Energy said it joined forces with the project developer, Xlinks, to help it move forward with construction.

Indian solar manufacturer Waaree Energies has secured domestic and international orders to supply 5 GW of its bifacial 540 Wp and 600 Wp solar panels.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued a call for homeowners to check their residential energy storage systems, amid a national recall of that batteries due to concerns about overheating.

Kore, an energy startup in California, has developed a new way to produce hydrogen from biogas, and is now poised to build a commercial-scale demonstration facility in Los Angeles. It said half of the carbon in the feedstock can be converted into gas, while the other half can be converted into solid elemental carbon char.

French energy giants TotalEnergies and Engie are reportedly interesting in acquiring GreenYellow.

Studer Innotec, a Swiss power electronics specialist, has unveiled a 16 kW inverter for off-grid and on-grid applications. It features two maximum power point tracking inputs in an 8 kW plus 8 KW configuration.

A new solar power plant will be developed on 2,800 hectares of land near a temple in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is expected to be operational within a year.

Many homeowners invest $15,000 to $30,000 or more in solar. How does this cost compare to the status quo of paying the utility company?

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has announced a mandate for rooftop solar on commercial and public buildings by 2027, and for residential buildings by 2029. The EU target for renewable energy has been increased from 40% to 45%.

Scientists in the United Arab Emirates have looked at how off-grid rooftop PV could be combined with batteries, fuel cells or reversible solid oxide cells for energy storage. The modeling assumed a typical commercial building in Los Angeles.

A new US Department of Energy report describes the challenges of commercializing perovskite technology for the solar energy sector.

Evonik Industries says its new additive series can achieve a significantly better cut quality ratio at higher cutting speeds and smaller wire diameters on large wafers (M12), which means cheaper post-processing work for sliced ​​wafers.

Scientists in the United States have fabricated a triple-junction solar cell that reached 39.5% efficiency – a world record for any type of cell under one-sun illumination. Though relying on materials and processes that are still too costly for most commercial uses, the concept could soon see actual applications in powering satellites and other space-bound technology.

A Spanish-Italian research group was able to improve the efficiency and stability of a standard perovskite solar cell by adding nitrogen-doped carbon dots as an additive. The carbon dots were then blended with the perovskite precursor solution at two different concentration levels and both were deposited by spin coating on the perovskite layer.

UK-based Synchrostor has developed a new pumped thermal energy storage (PTES) system. It is purportedly fully reversible in 30 milliseconds and can achieve a round-trip efficiency of around 70%. The proposed storage technology can also provide grid inertia and ancillary services.

Reclaim PV Recycling and the Circular PV Alliance (CPVA) have have agreed to jointly develop standards and testing procedures to support the reuse and resale of solar panels in Australia. Reclaim PV recently discovered that more than 31% of the solar panels collected in the Australian state of Queensland could be considered for reuse, rather than recycling.

This year a record number of manufacturers had one or more model types that were Top Performers in every reliability test – and six of these model types were also Top Performers in energy yield performance.

South Korean scientists have built a vertical three-dimensional fiber-optic solar-cell system with greater maximum efficiency than planar solar modules, as well as a lower surface requirement.

Researchers from the University of New South Wales have made a major breakthrough in what was previously conceived of only in theoretical terms – namely, “nighttime” solar power.

Ambient Photonics will build a fully automated manufacturing facility to produce solar cells for powering consumer electronics.

Trina Storage’s new 2.1 MWh DC All-New Elementa solution is a modular LFP battery cabinet with a plug-in concept to connect multiple units. The company is ramping up battery manufacturing capacity to strengthen vertical integration, given supply chain risks throughout the world.

Indian developer Greenko has started building a hybrid energy storage project with 10.8 GWh of daily pumped storage, 3 GW of solar, and 550 MW of wind.

South Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution presented its latest innovations at the Smarter E event in Munich last week. It also announced its transition from nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) battery chemistry to lithium iron phosphate (LFP) in its future products.

The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory has shared its findings on the use of perovskite materials to produce renewable hydrogen, while a number of entities have announced new projects in Europe, North America, and China.

Origin Energy has secured planning approval for a 700 MW/2,800 MWh grid-connected battery to be developed at the site of its coal-fired Eraring power station in the Australian state of New South Wales.