California to use flexible appliances for renewable energy integration
California plans to shift 3 GW of load from dirtier, more expensive times of day to cleaner, less expensive times by setting flexible demand standards for many types of electric appliances. Global interest in California’s work is high, according to a state agency commissioner.
Collectively owned PV systems improve energy community performance
Researchers have looked into the impact of potential regulated charge exemptions on two types of energy communities in 39 European countries. They have found that communities with collectively owned PV systems achieve greater savings.
South Africa’s largest battery storage project goes online
South Africa’s public utility, Eskom, has switched on a 20 MW/100 MWh Hex battery energy storage system (BESS) in Worcester, Western Cape province, to mitigate the challenge of load shedding.
UK grid operator streamlines 10 GW of battery storage
Plans to connect around 10 GW of battery energy storage projects in England and Wales are now in the fast lane. This comes on top of 10 GW of capacity unlocked at distribution level, including shovel-ready solar farms, onshore wind, and battery storage projects.
Overview of grid codes identifies CEI 0–21 standard as potential international benchmark
Conducted by Italian scienitists, the analysis includes standards such as IEC 61727, the US EREC G83/2 Recommendations, Germany’s VDE-AR-N 4105, China’s GB/T 19964-2012 and GB/T 20,046, Italy’s CEI 0-21, Australia’s AS 4777.2, and New Zealand’s AS 4777.2 standards, as well as the United States’ IEEE 1547.
New research sheds light on off-grid solar costs in remote villages
An international research group has assessed the economic feasibility of exclusively powering remote villages in Pakistan with off-grid solar-plus-storage projects. They said that their proposed system configuration has a “justifiable” net present cost.
Weekend Read: Install grid-connected solar, rinse, repeat
Will a redeployable solar and energy storage solution be the answer to unreliable grid electricity across much of Africa, as its developer proposes? Or will it merely be a temporary solution that will see cash-strapped utilities kick the can of universal energy access further down the road?
Novel tool for PV system sizing allows users to assess tradeoffs between reliability and costs
Developed by scientists in Egypt, trhe Green Energy Solutions software allows users to assess the tradeoffs between the PV system reliability and its costs. Compared to PVsyst, it has an error margin of up to 9%.
Transformer shortages: New bottleneck of the energy storage supply chain
Transformer shortages are taking their toll on battery energy storage system (BESS) integrators, as competition in the market intensifies.
Strategies to develop ‘solar neighborhoods’
A group of scientists across the world have created a list of recommendations that can help create solar neighborhoods. In a recently published study they highlight the importance of legislative frameworks and advanced computing.
