The UK’s Renewable Energy Association (REA) has launched two new trade groups to represent the solar and storage industries respectively.

Two recent reports, one from credit rating and investment advisory agency Moody’s, the other from technology and tech market analysts Navigant Research, appear to show divergent views on the potential of distributed energy storage, including residential solar-plus-batteries.

A 1MWh battery developed by US manufacturer Aquion Energy and installed at a private estate in Hawaii will allow the area’s residents to meet almost all of their electricity demand with power generated from a connected solar array.

A US regional electricity transmission and distribution operator’s plan to install energy storage batteries could enable ‘benefit stacking’ as a way of overcoming “crippling challenges” faced by energy storage, according to one energy expert.

A new scheme to provide grid-balancing services directly from the batteries of electric vehicles (EVs) will be trialled by car maker BMW, in partnership with California utility company Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E).

A community-owned utility company in California is preparing to install a large-scale battery system that could enable the addition of around 50MW of solar generation capacity to the local grid.

Electronic systems provider AEG Power Solutions has officially launched the prototype of a new lead-acid battery based energy storage system in Spain, which will integrate renewable energy output and manage loads effectively.

The US market for solar-plus-storage is predicted to grow more than twentyfold in the next three years, rapidly expanding from US$42 million in value this year to US$1 billion by 2018, according to GTM Research.

Integrated US photovoltaic energy company SunPower’s solar panels will be sold as part of a package that includes energy management software and energy storage capabilities to residential customers in the US and Australia from early next year.