Distributed Storage

With a new start-up and a consortium in the Netherlands, German automotive supplier Schaeffler wants to significantly reduce the costs of green hydrogen.

An international research group has created a closed-loop, transparent energy platform based on PV power generation and hydrogen production from photo-electrochemical cells. The system is claimed to supply power without interruption and to be transparent enough to be integrated into buildings.

Designed by scientists in Germany, the module facade has to be integrated with a building’s technical equipment. The rooms behind the facade can be supplied with solar power and at the same time heated, cooled and ventilated.

Elsewhere, the ‘world’s first hydrogen racing truck’ has set out on this year’s Dakar Rally, with sponsorship from Saudi Aramco, and French hydrogen equipment business McPhy has been selected as preferred supplier for the GreenH2Atlantic project in Portugal.

The partner companies say smart heat pumps can offer flexible capacity that network operators can use for safe operation and households could also benefit from a reduction in electricity prices.

Bluetti’s NA300 sodium-ion solar generator offers thermal stability, fast-charging capacity, low-temperature performance, and integration efficiency.

The completed acquisition of ClipperCreek launches Enphase Energy into the fast-growing market for electric vehicle charging systems.

Researchers in Jordan have designed a solar-assisted heat pump system for swimming pool heating at a hotel in the coastal city of Aqaba. They found that the system has a payback time of only 1.94 years and that total profits after ten years of operations may reach around $1.88 million.

Buildings are key to our daily lives and significantly impact our health and wellbeing. The majority also have substantial carbon footprints, employing heavy use of fossil fuels across their lifetimes, from their construction, use, and demolition phases. Thus, in Q4 2021, pv magazine’s UP Initiative focused on the role solar and energy storage can play in greening the world’s urban spaces.

The US is expected to add 78GW generating capacity over the next two years, 49GW of which is expected to be large-scale solar and energy storage.