Energy Storage

U.S. researchers have investigated whether energy storage deployment could actually drive up greenhouse gas emissions in the short term in some energy markets. The fact the existing literature considers only the dispatch of energy from storage facilities in the current fossil fuel-renewables energy mix, though, could understate the long-term emissions reduction benefits of such facilities.

Researchers in China have ranked some of the most commonly used battery chemistries according to parameters deemed important for grid-level storage. The team gave a score in each category and determined a winner – and it wasn’t lithium-ion.

The state government has partnered with the German energy storage company to offer 188 families locally assembled sonnenBatteries as they rebuild their homes.

New measures introduced by the government allow households, businesses and public entities to produce and trade clean electricity in low-voltage grids. The new framework is open to power projects with a generation capacity no larger than 200 kW.

The announcement by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of an auction which will include solar next year appears to back prime minister Boris Johnson’s claims to be serious about the nation’s net-zero carbon ambition.

Scientists at Germany’s Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin have made a discovery they say could greatly increase the energy storage capacity of titanium-based ‘MXene’ pseudocapacitors, ultimately leading to faster-charging batteries. The group found adding urea molecules between MXene layers increased the material’s storage capacity by up to 56%.

The OneBox, from Indian manufacturer Vision Mechatronics, consists of a lithium battery, hybrid inverter and solar charge controller to give a ‘hassle-free’ solution for electricity back-up during power outages. Solar rooftop owners are offered a grid feed feature to maximize net metering income from any excess power generated.

As the contagion continues to spread, its impact is beginning to be felt on the solar industry outside China with the cancellation or postponement of major trade shows and conferences that were set to take place over the next few weeks.

Spanish gas provider Enagás has signed an agreement with Ampere Energy for the joint development of several hydrogen production R&D projects with PV and storage. The first installation will be deployed at a gas plant in Cartagena, in the southern Spanish region of Murcia.

The annual trade show was not particularly well-attended this year, but market sentiment is still positive in Japan – nobody believes that installations will drop due to the coronavirus outbreak. And the country’s upstream industry – modules, batteries, and hydrogen tech – clearly remains compelling, given the number of brave souls who actually did make the trip out to Tokyo Big Sight this year.