BYD

German inverter maker SMA has joined forces with China’s BYD after losing US market share to Solaredge, which this year linked up with Kostal to optimize communication interfaces between inverters and storage applications.

Project was developed by Chinese storage system provider and panel manker BYD. The system is linked to a 1 MW solar plant built by the same company.

German suppliers may still play a central role in providing residential storage systems, however the increasing number of Asian manufacturers on the European market is undeniable. Particularly in the U.K. and Italy, they have captured the lion’s share of sales.

Chinese EV maker BYD passes the 600-sales mark in Europe with a deal – announced at the International Motor Show – which also takes it past 100 sales in Scandinavia, and more than 35,000 worldwide.

Following on from a partnership in 2017, Kostal and BYD are looking to further strengthen their ties under a new deal, which will see them provide storage solutions to the residential and commercial solar segments.

Eelpower Limited has acquired a 20 MW battery storage scheme from Anesco in the U.K. Overall, it plans to invest £500 million in delivering 1 GW of storage capacity by 2022.

The Chinese technology firm, which has become a leading player in China’s electric vehicle industry, has warned that subsidy cuts for new-energy vehicles could further drag down its profits. Solar and stationary battery business performing well, however.

Chinese shipments of lithium-ion batteries could jump by 40% year on year in 2017, but demand from the country’s burgeoning electric-vehicle market continues to overshadow the deployment of stationary energy storage systems (ESS), according to a recent report.

BYD has agreed to supply 180 MW of PV modules to Spanish developer Cobra for use in the Guaimbe project in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo.

The facility at the Universidade Estadual de Campinas to become BYD’s first overseas R&D facility for PV, and will be set up with initial $1.5m in funding. Subsequent financial support will be based as a percentage of firm’s domestic net sales.