Energy Storage

A British research group has investigated the economic feasibility of solar-powered heat pumps in China and has found that the country’s northern regions offer the lowest payback time of less than three years. As for the country’s southern regions, however, the adoption of PV-linked heat pumps was found to be “uneconomical.”

In another interview from the series held at Intersolar 2023, pv magazine spoke with Paolo Rocco Viscontini, president of the PV association Italia Solare. He said the Italian solar market is now inevitably poised to see more growth across all segments this year and during the current decade. He also spoke about market drivers, current demand, and the PPA business, as well as large-scale and small-sized storage.

The Ethiopian government has secured financing from the World Bank through the Access to Distributed Electricity and Lighting in Ethiopia (ADELE) program for 20 solar minigrid projects.

According to EUPD Research figures, PV system prices for single-family homes in Germany rose slightly in the second quarter of 2023. Despite falling module prices, analysts do not expect costs to fall significantly in the coming months. Prices also depend heavily on installation context, component selection, and region, which is why price comparisons with average figures, such as those used by Enpal in emails to private households, are not particularly meaningful.

US-based Lunar Energy offers batteries, hybrid inverters, and shutdown devices.

Key Energy has installed a three-phase flywheel energy storage system at a residence east of Perth, Western Australia. The 8 kW/32 kWh system was installed over two days in an above-ground enclosure, dramatically cutting the time needed to install the flywheel system.

Cambridge scientists have designed a new reactor that is able to convert CO2, water, and plastics into syngas. The system utilizes a photoelectrochemical device powered by an encapsulated triple cation perovskite-based photocathode and an alloy anode.

Deloitte says it expects steady hydrogen market growth, with annual revenue projected to hit $1.4 trillion by 2050, while Denmark and the Netherlands have started discussing hydrogen collaboration with the governments of Namibia, South Africa, and Morocco.

Greece’s energy regulator has announced three separate auctions for standalone energy storage systems connected to electricity transmission networks. The application process for the first auction, which involves 400 MW of energy storage, will be open until July 10.

Chris Sparkes, lead technician at UK solar installer Solar Fast tells pv magazine simply throwing money at the PV industry will not suffice.