Distributed Storage

A new report by IEA PVPS Task 18 provides a blueprint guide on how to conduct feasibility studies for off-grid and edge-of-grid power systems. The optimal system size and specifications vary depending on the client’s priorities. The desired project outcomes can be identified using pure financial analysis (NPV, IRR) or additionally taking environmental performance into account.

Italy-based Rhoss has developed a cascaded air-source heat pump that uses propane (R290) as the refrigerant. It can produce between 47.4 kW and 190.5 kW of heat and domestic hot water to a temperature of up to 75 C.

Trane has released a rooftop air-to-air heat pump that can produce between 14.5 kW and 37.4 kW of heat and between 16.5 kW and 38.4 kW of cooling. The new device can purportedly be adapted to cold-climate applications by adding complementary heating sources such as electric heaters or hot water coils.

China’s Deye has developed a new lithium iron phosphate battery system with a nominal voltage of 51.2 V. It says that up to 32 modules with a capacity of 6.14 kWh can be stacked and connected in parallel for a total capacity of 196.48 kWh.

South Korean researchers have developed a heat trading system including a ground-source heat pump, solar thermal collectors, a fuel-cell system, and two heat storage tanks for district heating at hours of peak solar production.

Italy hit 959 MW/1,826 MWh of distributed storage capacity at the end of 2022. The segment continues to grow in the country, led by the regions of Lombardy and Veneto.

SolarPower Europe says in a new report that households in Germany, Spain, and Italy can more than triple their savings by pairing PV with heat pumps. It said this combination helped families to save between 62% and 84% on their annual energy bills in 2022.

The European Union is working on a draft proposal, which pv magazine has seen, that would require 85% of the components used in European wind farms – along with 60% of heat pumps, 85% of batteries, and 85% of electrolyzers – to be manufactured on the continent.

Fraunhofer ISE has presented the results of retrofit heat pump installations in multi-family homes in Germany. One demonstrator featured rooftop solar PV and a multi-source heat pump developed in partnership with Viessmann. It uses air and geothermal as heat sources.

Researchers have looked at whether Germany can substitute more gas with renewables-powered heat pumps or renewable electricity to reduce load hours at gas-fired power plants. They argue that heat pumps are the fastest way to cut German gas consumption.