Distributed Storage

SolarEdge, an Israel-based inverter manufacturer, says it plans to cut about 900 jobs as part of a restructuring plan “designed to reduce operating expenses and align its cost structure to current market dynamics.”

The Italian manufacturer said the heat pump has a seasonal coefficient of performance of 3.80 to 4.80. The new product can reportedly operate from -15 C to 52 C in cooling mode and from -20 C to 30 C in heating mode.

Diesel generators have been the workhorse of disaster relief for decades but as the frequency of extreme weather events rises, so do calls to decarbonize the emergency response. Sustainability may not be the only benefit to using solar in a crisis, as pv magazine discovers.

French sodium-ion battery maker Tiamat has raised €30 million ($32.6 million) in equity and debt financing. It will use the funds to launch the construction of a 5 GWh production plant in the Hauts-de-France region.

Scientists in the United Kingdom have proposed to combine residential thermoelectric heat pumps with heat storage tanks and have found this solution offers a higher heat output, a higher coefficient of performance, and shorter heating time. They stressed that thermoelectric heat pumps are easily combinable with DC photovoltaic energy.

Israel’s Electricity Authority says it has reached a decision on tariffs, as current rates do not ensure the viability of large rooftop PV projects. It has also raised the tariff for stored electricity sold at peak times.

Europe’s leading battery maker, Northvolt, has signed a $5 billion non-recourse project financing arrangement to enable the expansion of Northvolt Ett in northern Sweden. The deal represents the largest green loan raised in Europe to date.

NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance (NETRA) has demonstrated successful hydrogen cooking with a modified cookstove that uses hydrogen from a green hydrogen plant at its campus in India.

Israeli developer Shikun & Binui Energy says it will operate a 130 MW solar project next to a highway in Israel for a period of 25 years. It will also include up to 240 MWh of storage.

Researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have developed a new lithium metal battery that can be charged and discharged at least 6,000 times — more than any other pouch battery cell — and can be recharged in a matter of minutes.