While some observers have breathlessly called 2015 the “Year of the Battery,” a more accurate description might be that we are seeing the dawn of the “Age of Energy Storage,” especially the winning combination of storage integrated with solar and emerging smart grid technologies, writes Panasonic’s Daniel Roca.
We are approaching the sixth annual Solar Energy UK conference and exhibition, hosted by our publisher Solar Media. Taking place next week amid challenging times for the UK PV industry, recognition of the potential of storage at the top level at last, and actions already underway by the industry, will be among the central topics of discussion, with more exhibitors and conference strands than ever before.
We’ve been talking over the past few months with a large number of key and emerging players in the UK’s energy storage industry. With our show Solar Energy UK coming up next week, we thought this would be a good opportunity to share with you the thoughts of two of those players on the relationship between renewables and energy storage.
The UK, catapulted into being one of the world’s leading regions for solar PV deployment unexpectedly over the past couple of years, is now facing just as unexpected challenges in the form of drastic FiT cuts of as much as 87%. While this is undoubtedly bad for the industry, there are some possible avenues for policy adjustments that won’t require subsidising as well as strategies the industry could adopt to make self-consuming solar with storage a more viable option, writes Simon Daniel of Moixa Technology.
The €32 million (US$36 million) Hydrogen Mobility Europe programme was launched today, with Germany, the UK, the Scandinavian countries and France signing up with the aim of expanding hydrogen refuelling station coverage across the continent. Andy Colthorpe speaks to one of the companies behind the project and power-to-gas energy expert Christopher Hebling of Fraunhofer ISE about this “modern fairytale” technology.
Later this year, the 21st annual session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) will take place in Paris. Leaders from around the world are coming together with an overarching goal of creating a deal to support the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to limit the global temperature increase to 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Key to the reduction of global carbon emissions is the transformation of our energy networks, by adopting cleaner, more efficient and smarter technologies, writes Andrew Jones.
The UK’s Electricity Storage Network advocates and educates for a better understanding of the issues surrounding various storage technologies, and how they can be among a number of resources to help balance the country’s energy networks. The ESN’s Dr Jill Cainey, a research scientist with a background in atmospheric science and climate change, was among attendees to a recent round table discussion hosted by the Energy Storage division of PV Tech Storage’s publisher, Solar Media.
Tom Tipple, regional VP for Imergy Power Systems, a flow battery maker headquartered in Fremont, California, recently visited the PV Tech Storage offices to share his thoughts on the global market for energy storage.
The International Renewable Energy Association (IRENA) recently released its electricity storage technology roadmap, looking at how electricity storage can support the increased deployment of renewable energy.
Andy Colthorpe speaks to Matt Roberts of the Washington-based Energy Storage Association about topics including real-world applications of tech straight from the lab, why he dislikes subsidies and the group’s technical conference, happening later this month.
