Energy Storage

Byron Bay-based solar retailer Smart Energy says it is seeing an unprecedented surge in sales and enquiries for solar and home energy storage as consumers look to shore themselves up in uncertain times.

A paper by scientists at the University of California San Diego has outlined a technology roadmap for the development of solid-state batteries – and four challenges to address for the technology to advance.

U.S.-owned analyst Wood Mackenzie expects solar demand to decline but predicts the market will recover, with the prospects for the energy transition remaining intact.

English partners appear to be in demand with a London-based vanadium flow supplier tying up with a U.S. partner just as an automotive design company in Coventry announces plans for electric and hydrogen vehicle production in the West Midlands.

Market intelligence firm BloombergNEF has published a report with power company Statkraft and clean energy distributor Eaton highlighting the importance of sector coupling for Europe’s decarbonization plans. Analysts examined the power markets of Germany and the U.K. and concluded effective sector coupling including the use of green hydrogen could lead to greenhouse gas emission reductions of 83% by 2050.

The scramble for new battery solutions is accelerating as researchers from Singapore tout an electrolyte which which they say produces highly stable lithium-sulfur batteries that maintain performance metrics – a task which has proven tricky thus far.

The African Development Bank has agreed to invest $200 million to improve electricity access in Nigeria by building minigrids throughout the country.

A report by Norwegian energy consultant DNV GL has considered the opportunity for long-term energy storage to play a role in balancing annual supply and demand fluctuations in a renewables-led grid. Using 58 years of Dutch weather and energy consumption data, the study found long-term solutions such as green hydrogen could make a valuable contribution – but perhaps not as much as some analysts believe.

The UK Solar Trade Association has laid out its wish list ahead of new chancellor Rishi Sunak’s first budget speech tomorrow, with an exemption of solar from onerous tax valuations top of the agenda. COVID-19 measures, though, are likely to cast everything else into the shade.

Getting the most out of a bifacial module requires a rethink at almost every level of system design and the industry is hungry for field data generated by such systems to better inform energy yield modeling and define the best approaches to maximizing yield at minimal cost. In May, the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory began a three-year study into bifacial performance which is beginning to yield results.