Distributed Storage

Panasonic reported a net profit attributable to shareholders of ¥48.8 billion ($445.1 million) in the first quarter of the current fiscal year — up sharply from ¥29.2 billion a year earlier — despite a decline in sales of its solar panels. 

Toshiba has reported a group net loss of JPY 965.7 billion ($8.8 billion) for fiscal 2016, as its energy systems and solutions business — which which builds solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower projects, in addition to battery-based energy storage systems and smart meters — posted an operating loss of JPY 41.7 billion in the 12 months to the end of March 2017, marking a significant improvement from the preceding fiscal year.

If homes across the U.K. were designed to generate, store and release their own solar energy, household fuel bills could be cut by £600 a year, finds a report.

The program will provide rebates that cover up to 50% of the cost for purchasing and installing a storage system coupled to a PV system.

UK taxation department HMRC agrees to place batteries sold with a new solar system in 5% VAT tax rate following lobbying by the Solar Trade Association. Government will also consider proposals to offer reduced rate to all storage.

The analysts expect cumulative installed base of energy storage to reach 52 GW globally by 2025, up from 4 GW today. Annual revenues for grid-connected storage to reach more than $7bn by that date despite sharp price declines.

The new product, available to U.K. online customers, will retail from £3,000 for a standalone battery, or for as little as £6,925 for the solar panel-plus-battery package.

New research sheds light on the benefits of demand response applications in a low voltage distribution network with an integrated PV system.

In the first year energy storage and electric vehicle sectors are included, REA’s annual publication reveals a 2.5% YoY increase in the number of jobs in the renewable energy industry, but also a significant decline in growth from two years previous when it was at nearly 9%. The Association points to negative policy changes as the reason behind the downward trend.

More than $1 billion raised in the first half of 2017 by battery storage, smart grid and energy efficiency companies – up from $807m in H1 2016, finds latest Mercom Capital Group report.