Energy Management Systems

Evergen, a solar and battery optimization specialist, and battery supplier Solar Service Group have joined forces to connect thousands of residential batteries across Australia. By delivering significant benefits to consumers, the joint venture hopes to boost the uptake of home batteries across the nation.

The British company, which has tested its liquid air energy storage technology in the U.K., says it is preparing to deploy its first plant on U.S. soil. Highview claims its CRYOBattery is half the price of utility scale lithium-ion storage.

Spanish researchers have developed an analytical model to optimize the operation of PV water pumping systems. They say simultaneously irrigating different parts of a farm could help minimize costs and maximize energy use. The model was tested on an olive farm divided into four zones in the Spanish province of Almería.

As solar and wind power enter the post-subsidy era, the next few years will be critical for China’s energy transition with investors learning to navigate the uncertainties of market reforms. With the 14th five-year plan – touted as a watershed in China’s energy system development – in the works, a report has recommended clear targets for 2021-2025 in terms of solar and wind power deployment and a reduction of coal consumption.

The Italia Solare Forum event held in Rome laid bare the difficulty of securing permits for large scale projects at national and regional levels. Fast-tracking the process for big solar parks appears necessary to get Italian PV back on track.

The U.S. residential solar market – and 15 states – are at record highs according to analyst WoodMac’s ‘don’t call it a comeback’ Q3 report, driven by new market forces. The research firm held its 2019 U.S. solar forecast at 13 GW.

An international research team has developed a new approach for solar power forecasting that combines neural networks and pattern sequences for the first time. The performance of the new Pattern Sequence Neural Network (PSNN) was tested on an Australian data set that includes information from two years of forecasts. It can be used with different clustering and cluster-sequence extraction algorithms, and can be applied to multiple related time sequences

The distribution network operator for central and southern Scotland says it wants to maximize onshore renewables potential by adding solar and storage to its clean energy business. The company said hybrid projects combining wind, solar and storage will become the industry standard in 2021.

The project was realized by the i-DE distribution company of the Spanish electric utility. The large scale storage battery is intended to improve the quality of electricity supply with a focus on solar projects located nearby.

Two projects have been deployed by Canopy Power on private islands in Indonesia. The two 52.5 kW/77 kWh mini-grids were the only alternative to diesel generators due to the lack of a connection with the grid on the island of Batam. The projects – which rely on REC Solar modules, SMA inverters and a storage system from Tesvolt – provide around half of the energy required on their respective islands.