Netherlands licenses first EV smart charging company to provide grid services
The NewMotion electric vehicle (EV) charging business owned by Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell has become the first such entity to obtain a licence to provide grid balancing services in the Netherlands. Dutch grid company Tennet has licensed NewMotion to provide megawatt-scale balancing services to maintain grid frequency at 50 Hz by varying the rate at […]
Nanoparticles enable completely clear, industry-sized solar windows
Australian company ClearVue Technologies says it has a fully transparent, scalable, industry-ready solar window in production. It claims that it’s now just 18 months away from cracking 5% efficiency, thanks to a research partnership.
The Hydrogen Stream: 45 GW project in Kazakhstan, new push from Norway
German project developer Svevind Energy and Kazakh Invest wants to build a 45 GW green hydrogen complex in Kazakhstan. Norwegian companies Equinor, Aker Group and Saga Pure announced separate plans to further develop their green hydrogen solution.
Solar+storage kits for construction sites, one-off events
France’s Revolt Energy Green has developed a flexible solar+storage solution for one-off events, construction sites, and different kinds of off-grid applications. It has also developed a mobile hydrogen solution.
Kehua unveils high-voltage battery for residential applications
The device has a maximum power output of 6 kW and a storage capacity of 8.2 kWh. The product comes with IP65 protection and its operation is guaranteed for 10,000 cycles.
Floating PV and flow batteries to power highways’ junction in the Netherlands
A floating PV array coupled to flow batteries is planned to power the operations of a new road under construction to connect two highways in the Netherlands. The project is aimed, in particular, at powering ventilation, lighting, and other installations of a tunnel.
Fraunhofer ISE unveils 68.9%-efficient III-V solar cell for laser energy transmission systems
The German research institute said the gallium arsenide cell has achieved the highest efficiency to date for the conversion of light into electricity.
Using the oceans’ depths to store renewables, compress hydrogen
Underwater gravity energy storage has been proposed as an ideal solution for weekly energy storage, by an international group of scientists. The novel technology is considered an alternative to pumped-hydro storage for coasts and islands without mountains that are located close to deep waters, and may also be interesting for PV if used to store green hydrogen.
1366 Technologies merges with Hunt Perovskite Technologies
U.S. thin-film manufacturer First Solar and Bill Gates-owned Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) are among the investors in the new company, which is called CubicPV and is expected to develop multi-junction perovskite solar cells with efficiencies of around 30%.
CO2 pricing may prevent cannibalization effect of wind and solar
According to a new study from a German-Swedish research group, conventional incentives such as renewable portfolio standards, feed-in tariffs or feed-in premium payments may likely lead to a price cannibalisation scenario for wind and solar. CO2 pricing, instead, is considered an efficient tool to maintain their market value high enough to ensure new investments. However, a total system cost approach, rather than an LCOE perspective, is needed to understand the strong dependence of market value on policy choice.
