ESB and Oersted UK independently announced this week they have acquired storage assets to deliver ancillary services to the UK grid operator.

The inverter manufacturer alleges that its patented DC optimized inverter technology has been infringed on in the German market. It adds that Huawei’s residential inverters use an architecture, which violates its patents. Huawei has said it is “evaluating the claims”, however it does not believe it has infringed any valid patent rights.

Solar PV capacity is set to grow 17-fold, and wind six-fold, by 2050, to account for nearly half of global electricity generation, predicts BNEF, while investments will reach US$11.5 trillion. Cost reductions will drive this charge, particularly in the battery market, which will benefit from the EV manufacturing ramp up. Despite this, the electricity sector is still failing to bring CO₂ emissions down to the required levels, with its continued dependence on gas.

German-based Innogy SE’s US subsidiary will gain exclusive rights for the acquisition of 13 solar PV projects currently owned by Birdseye Renewable Energy LLC. The projects have a cumulative capacity of 440MW and are at various stages of development.

Researchers from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and Oxford PV have presented a new record perovskite tandem solar cell, with a 25.2% conversion efficiency, independently verified by Fraunhofer ISE. Bernd Stannowski, from HZB presented the results this week at the World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion (WCPEC-7) in Hawaii.

Citing the need for ancillary grid services, due to increasing amounts of variable renewable energy assets being installed in the U.K., the two comapnies are stressing the stability this project will bring to the country’s grid.

The EU Commission, Council and Parliament have been in trialogue negotiations to broker a deal on the revised Renewable Energy Directive (REDII), the first version of which was adopted in 2009. By 3:30am this morning, a deal was finally brokered and legislative processes for official adoption are now just a formality

Australia is set to quadruple its utility-scale PV capacity with 2 GW pipeline. The effects are now beginning to show. So far just 0.1 MW are fully operational, but by July this is going to change.

Crystalline silicon tandem cell structures show great promise in delivering efficiencies beyond the limits of conventional c-Si. Swiss researchers claim to have gone beyond 25% with a c-Si-perovskite tandem cell structure, using what they claim is a competitive production process.

Canada’s pension fund is the world’s first to establish a Green Bond. The growing acceptance for renewable energy assets from sovereign wealth funds indicates a solid and healthy business climate for renewable energy, and could have positive effects for the industry in the future.