Technology

By this time next year we may be able to wave goodbye to that old chestnut about renewables endangering security of supply. Elsewhere, the price of lithium – and the products it goes into – could go either way after tanking this year.

To get long-duration storage costs down to $0.05/kWh, research teams funded by ARPA-E are pursuing breakthroughs in flow batteries, hydrogen storage and other technologies – even thermovoltaics.

Battery innovations started to come thick and fast this quarter as the hunt for alternatives to lithium-ion intensified and the latest slew of solar tenders indicated the relentless pressure on solar power generation costs was showing no sign of abating.

Developer PowerGen has installed a new mini-grid in the country and plans to develop nine more projects with the support of the World Bank.

Storage has long been expected to be the handmaiden of a renewable energy world and its long awaited advances started to finally emerge in the third quarter as researchers posited R&D achievements ranging from potentially potent tungsten disulfide nanotubes to the business case for 10-year solar panels.

Intersolar Europe is always a key date in the solar calendar but this year’s show had it all, including three panel-smuggling arrests. Elsewhere, wafers were getting bigger, efficiency records were tumbling and new technologies were emerging. There was also more news on the solar car ports fad and Hanwha’s ongoing legal tussle.

U.S. scientists are trying to understand how non-fullerene small-molecule acceptors (NAFs) increase the efficiency of organic PV devices. They claim that methoxy groups embedded in the acceptors could facilitate an efficiency increase of approximately 6%.

The Danish government has agreed to provide $19 million in funds for two large-scale hydrogen projects under development on the Jutland peninsula. The two projects will produce green hydrogen for the transport sector from renewables sources. Denmark’s largest energy company, Ørsted, has also announced plans for an ambitious 2 MW electrolysis plant with appurtenant hydrogen storage.

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.

CNBC has uncovered a recently granted building permit that allows Tesla to put up “two canopy covers” over its new “solar test houses.” Earlier this year, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that 2019 was “the year of the solar roof.”