Long-duration energy storage (LDES) is essential for decarbonizing the grid but gigawatt-hour scale systems continue to be tricky for companies with big ideas. Here are some of the latest innovations across a flourishing array of new – and old – ideas.

It was a good year for the inverter market. Strong demand was only stifled by supply chain limits, but new inverters are less innovative and show a slower evolution in improvements. Nevertheless, more versatile options are emerging in response to the energy crisis.

Ion Storage System’s $30 million capital raising will go toward scaling up its solid-state battery cell production facility in the US state of Maryland, with aims to produce 10 MWh per year by the end of 2023, for a range of applications.

Solar inverter makers in Europe continue to ship a healthy proportion of the world’s premium string and central inverters, despite shrinking margins as Chinese competition grows. But the Europeans aren’t simply waiting around…

Gamesa Electric’s new Proteus PV inverter represents an upgrade over the previous Gamesa Electric 3X series. It has an output of up to 4,700 kVA and is compatible with DC/ESS interfaces for the connection of storage energy systems.

The Genap Energy Cover uses HyET Solar Powerfoil thin-film solar modules, rated at 12.0% efficiency, for agricultural water storage and reservoirs, with an initial focus on the greenhouse and horticulture markets in the Netherlands. Genap said a 12kWp test setup had a generation density of 60W/m2, rising to 120W/m2 within a year, with an eventual target of 165W/m2.

Electric vehicles, both fully electric and plug-in hybrid EVs, look set to become dominant in new car sales within years in many parts of the world, but overall changes to car fleets face significant inertia. What impact will this have on the future grid, and where’s the opportunity for solar? Tristan Rayner gets behind the wheel.

In a financial world of stocks, bonds, foreign exchange, and credit cards, trillions of dollars are traded daily, with money flows handled by a bevy of databanks. In the world of cryptocurrency, billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin are traded through as many as 400,000 transactions per day, consuming the energy supply of a modernized country. The quirk is a “proof of work” feature that provides decentralized security. Is Bitcoin’s energy usage all for nothing, or is it a game-changer for renewable assets and generators? Tristan Rayner explores.

The modular solar marketplace is growing, especially in Australia where remote mining and agricultural sites appreciate the benefits of compact, movable solar. One new entrant is Western Australia’s CDI Energy with its “Rapid Solar Module”, which CDI founder and CEO Darryl Bower told pv magazine is up to 30% cheaper than fixed axis alternatives.

Sungrow’s new utility-scale string inverter can supply a maximum of 352 kW, just a year after it launched a 250 kW string inverter that was billed as the world’s most powerful. The new inverter arrives mid-2022.