Tesla

South Australia could play host to the world’s largest deployment of residential solar+storage in the form of a virtual power plant. The scheme, announced by SA Premier Jay Weatherill on the election campaign trail, could see 250 MW of rooftop PV and 650 MWh of battery storage added to 50,000 homes over 4.5 years.

The conversation around battery cell production may be heated, but it is largely confined to the advanced industrial economies of China, Japan, South Korea and the U.S. Although also a high-tech hub of innovation and manufacturing expertise, Europe has been on the outside looking in for some time. But that could all be about to change as two exciting storage production programs take flight.

The head of the Chilean Economic Development Agency (Corfo), Eduardo Bitran said that Tesla may partner with local lithium manufacturer, SQM in the construction of a factory. The Chilean government and SQM have recently settled a dispute that began in 2014.

The U.S. President’s proclamation provides a path for specific products to apply for exemption from tariffs, which had been sought by both SunPower and the government of South Korea. Additionally, imports from a number of developing nations are exempt as long as import levels remain small.

China was the global leader in 2017 clean energy investment, says a new report. On the solar front, the country accounts for 60% of all cell production; and will continue to lead installation developments for at least the next five years. New 2020 targets are expected to be set. In the battery arena, Chinese companies are also set to dominate.

The company also says that it has begun installation of the Solar Roof on the homes of non-employee homeowners.

Japan’s Solar Frontier plans to start integrating its thin-film PV technologies into materials for walls and roofs, with sales expected to begin before the end of the decade, according to a recent report.

The Tesla chief laid down the gauntlet earlier this year, confidently tweeting that his team could have the world’s largest battery online within 100 days of signing the contract. The lithium-ion South Australia project was actually completed in 60 days.

Panasonic recorded a net profit of JPY 118.9 billion ($1.04 billion) for the first half of the current fiscal year, from JPY 133.5 billion a year earlier, as sales of its PV systems fell.

The nation’s largest residential PV installer deployed only 109 MW of solar during Q3, its lowest level in many years, but it did install 110 MWh of battery storage.