PV plant

Wood Mackenzie estimates that the US microgrid market has seen a 47% increase in solar and storage capacity in 2022 compared to 2017 levels, driven by rising demand for uninterrupted services, military resilience plans, and corporate environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) goals.

German startup Solarnative has invested €1 million ($ 1.07 million) in a surface-mount technology production line for its new microinverter plant in Germany. It says it plans to ramp up microinverter production from May.

The US solar market is set to add 29.1 GW of new utility-scale PV and 9.4 GW of storage in 2023, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). If that new capacity goes online as planned, 2023 will have the most new utility-scale PV capacity added in a single year.

Discovery Battery’s new lithium iron phosphate battery system has a nominal voltage of 51.2 V and a capacity of 100 Ah. Up to six 5.12 kWh battery modules can be stacked in a single enclosure, and up to four enclosures can be connected in parallel for a total capacity of 120 kWh.

Axian has secured MGA 47.1 billion ($10.9 million) to finance a 40 MW solar plant and a 5 MWh storage facility in Madagascar. The installation is the island state’s largest solar park.

Brazilian and US researchers have evaluated the water evaporation rate of a floating PV system on a Brazilian reservoir. They said that the 130 kW installation reduced evaporation by 60%, and claimed that a 5 MW system could save enough water for 196 people per year.

The Romanian government has issued long-anticipated secondary regulations for the deployment of storage systems.

Sembcorp Industries has connected a 285 MWh battery storage system to the grid on Jurong Island, Singapore. It is reportedly Southeast Asia’s largest energy storage system, featuring 800 large-scale lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.

Argentina has announced its first renewable energy tender since 2019.

US solar tracker supplier Array Technologies plans to set up a factory in Australia, after winning a contract to supply trackers for a 102 MW solar farm in the Australian state of Victoria.