Energy Storage

Infigen has begun work on a one MW photovoltaic and energy storage plant in Australia’s New South Wales. A first for both the company and the country, the demonstration project aims to pave the way for future utility-scale projects.

Solar M&A activity in the U.S. has tailed off this year compared to 2011, according to the latest figures. Despite this, photovoltaic project installers have reportedly emerged as a favorable investment area. Furthermore, energy storage M&A activity is said to have enjoyed strong growth.

Satcon Technology Corporation, A123 Systems, Renewable Energy Services, and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) have been awarded US$2 million by the California Energy Commission to work on the development of storage technologies that will help reduce renewable energy power intermittency.

Korea-based photovoltaic module manufacturer, Hanwha SolarOne Co. Ltd has announced a new partnership with U.S. storage system company, Silent Power.

Lux Research has released a forecast that expects lithium-ion and molten-salt battery costs to fall to US$500/kWh by 2022. This is predicted to bring down the high capital cost of emerging grid storage technologies. However, it is still double the target of US$250/kWh.

Germany’s federal and state governments have agreed to a phasing out of funding and cuts in the country’s photovoltaic feed-in tariffs. It is expected that the Bundestag and Bundesrat will discuss and make a decision on the compromise this week.

China’s Trina Solar Limited and Germany-based E3/DC have said they will collaborate on next generation energy storage solutions.

Panasonic Corporation will begin mass production of its lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery system, which has been developed for European residential homes kitted out with solar.

This week brought encouraging news from China regarding the development of smart grids to help enable the smart and sustainable cities of tomorrow. In addition to the key role solar can play, the need to focus on technology communication was highlighted – if the application is not visualized to the end-user, the adoption rate of the technology will suffer.

Nine Japanese companies have launched a smart grid demonstration project in Albuquerque, New Mexico.