Tesla Motors’ proposed US$2.6 billion purchase of SolarCity could “substantially” increase SolarCity’s sales, reckons industry veteran Jigar Shah, clean energy entrepreneur and founder of SunEdison.

Tesla Motors’ US$2.6 billion all-stock offer for SolarCity this week raised questions, as both firms’ share prices slumped on the announcement, and markets reflected a sense of both awe and unease at the proposed deal. GTM Research director of energy storage Ravi Manghani considers these questions, through the prism of Tesla chief Elon Musk’s self-titled ‘master plan, part deux’.

EnSync Energy Systems, formerly known as ZBB Energy, announced on Monday the sale of multiple PPAs, including the first ever solar-plus-storage projects sold in Hawaii.

Energy storage capacity additions will double worldwide to 2.9GWh this year, up from 1.4GWh in 2015, according to the latest report from analyst firm IHS Markit.

Brazil’s energy agency ANEEL has approved the creation of a strategic report on how to integrate energy storage systems into wind and solar applications in the country.

State-owned Australian utility Ausgrid is streamlining applications and cutting fees for consumers installing solar or battery storage systems.

Australia-based renewables firm Windlab and Japan’s Eurus energy have received development approval for a hybrid project comprising 20MW solar, 30MW wind and a 2MW lithium-ion battery storage system in Queensland, Australia.

Tesla’s second Master Plan will be mostly funded by sales of its vehicles, particularly the new electric vehicle, the Model 3, chief executive Elon Musk said during a soft launch of the enormous ‘Gigafactory’ in Nevada on Tuesday.

Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) will soon tender for utility-scale solar-plus-storage projects in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

It’s no surprise that Elon Musk’s announcement that he was working on Tesla’s second master plan was met with great anticipation. Lux Research’s Chris Robinson looks in depth at the new strategy, which included autonomy, solar power, some vehicles we expected, and some vehicles we didn’t.