In the previous instalment of this blog, we looked at how our respondents from across the energy storage industry had viewed 2018’s biggest challenges. This time out we look at what some of 2018’s biggest successes were.

After another record-breaking year, in which the US surpassed 1GWh of deployed energy storage and China began its programme of building flow batteries several hundred megawatts in size each, we canvassed opinion on what 2018’s biggest challenges and successes were. In this first part, we look at the challenges faced by the industry in 2018.

In another eventful and exciting year, Energy-Storage.news has been able to capture conversations and interviews with leading industry figures.

Britain’s feed-in tariff scheme will close in full to new applicants from 31 March 2019 and the end of the present scheme without an explicit next step laid out is troubling for many in the renewable energy industries and those that care about energy security and climate change.

Andy Colthorpe spoke with Janice Lin of the California Energy Storage Alliance on what sort of role energy storage will play in reaching the ‘100% carbon-free retail electricity’ goal of the state’s SB100 legislation. This is Part 2 of a feature interview originally included in Solar Media’s quarterly journal PV Tech Power.

Andy Colthorpe spoke with Janice Lin of the California Energy Storage Alliance on what sort of role energy storage will play in reaching the ‘100% carbon-free retail electricity’ goal of the state’s SB100 legislation. Part 1, with the second half to follow later this week on Energy-Storage.news.

Ben Hill is widely known in the solar and energy storage industries as the former Trina Solar executive who drove the Chinese company towards a leading position in the European market in the days of the large-scale boom before leaving to become Tesla’s VP for Europe, Africa and the Middle East. UK start-up Solo Energy is among a number of companies he is now working with closely as an advisor.

Global shares of renewable energy are increasing, while at the same time data centres become an ever-more important part of our daily lives. Emiliano Cevenini of Vertiv looks at some ways in which renewable energy can combine with UPS and energy storage systems at data centres to offer new possibilities for energy and environmental controls.

It’s likely a strong indication of the way the world is adopting renewable energy rapidly that just under a month ago, one of the best-established trade shows for solar in the US featured what seemed like almost as much space dedicated to national and international energy storage companies and technologies, as it did for solar.

Solar & Storage Live 2018, the trade exhibition organised by Energy-Storage.news’ & PV Tech’s publisher Solar Media, opens its doors in a week’s time, with around 4,000 pre-registered visitors expected to flock to the NEC, Birmingham, England. Here’s why this year’s event is not to be missed.