Energy Storage

A new white paper published by analysts at IHS Markit compares the electricity network with other key systems such as transport and data infrastructure. The report concludes that increasing the amount of electricity storage available could create a more flexible, efficient and reliable grid, and save billions of dollars each year.

The inverter giant’s expansion plans are a response to what it says are favorable market conditions. In addition, the company is introducing new products to the U.S. market, including solutions for battery storage.

It took a couple of tweets, and at least one one-hour long phone call, but it seems pretty clear that Tesla founder, CEO and billionaire Elon Musk has helped turn the debate around energy policy in Australia on its head.

After losing money for the past two years, the saltwater battery storage company couldn’t raise enough new capital to meet its debt obligations, leading to the filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware yesterday.

PV Expo Tokyo, the leading solar power show for the world’s third-largest PV market, concluded last week after three full-on days. pv magazine reports on five key takeaways from this year’s show.

Investments in distributed solar made by North American and European utilities have reached an aggregate value of $297 million to date. North American power providers seem to be more confident on distributed solar, but European companies are investing more heavily in all distributed energy segments.

Israeli headquartered power electronics specialist SolarEdge has announced that it is rolling out a complete solution for residential PV, consisting of inverter, storage and home automation system.

The company appears to be making progress with its restructuring, as it continues to launch increasingly sophisticated home energy solutions.

The Toyota Prius gets rooftop solar, Fraunhofer and Hevel push multicrystalline and HJT efficiencies, Saudi Arabia begins 300 MW tender process and Tesla publishes its Q4 2016 financials – welcome to the week that was.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is providing $450,000 (US$346,000) towards the Decentralized Energy Exchange (deX) project, which aims to produce an open-source software platform on which grid services can be provided and monetized by distributed battery storage. A combination of Australian utilities, research bodies, and startups are collaborating on the $930,200 ($715,000) deX project.