Production of stationary storage systems has already begun at Tesla’s facilities in Fremont California, while the company’s Gigafactory is “on track” and could even be expanded beyond original plans, company executives said yesterday.
PV Tech Storage’s publisher, Solar Media, recently conducted a round table discussion event, bringing together a range of industry figures from analysts to manufacturers, to discuss the future of the UK residential energy storage industry. While there is more in depth coverage of event to come on PV Tech Storage and through Solar Media’s various other channels, here are two short videos summing up some of the thoughts of attendees on key topics.
Enphase CEO Paul Nahi has said that the “unique” modularity of the company’s battery solution could be “incredibly valuable” to help it to meet the needs of customers in regions including Australia, where there is a “real economic case” for energy storage.
The closing of Feed-in-Tariffs (FiTs) for solar installations in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) at the end 2016 presents a “perfect marketing opportunity” for energy storage retailers, according to industry members.
Some news in brief from around the world of energy storage this week: One of the big solar inverter players, KACO, has picked out Ideal Power’s patented technology to boost its storage push, Electrovaya has been quick to highlight the positive impact it said it received from purchasing Litarion, an EV fast-charge station could be the first step in a big change for West Australia.
Mercom Capital Group’s second quarter 2015 report into VC funding in the energy storage, smart grid and energy efficiency sectors made for interesting reading for the battery and storage space. As PV Tech Storage noted on 21 July from the report, VC funding almost doubled over the first quarter of the year and the sector saw Arnold Schwarzenegger put his money where his green credentials are, bringing some celebrity investor gloss to the proceedings. PV Tech Storage spoke to Mercom Capital chief Raj Prabhu to delve deeper into the statistics.
The man who will host the UK’s first Tesla Powerwall in his home has said the British residential energy storage industry needs to avoid “false starts” which could result in “lots of inappropriately installed systems”.
GE’s intention to move into the energy storage industry is a further sign that the sector is maturing, a leading analyst has said.
A push by US leasing giant SolarCity to serve small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with its commercial solar offering will be bolstered by a tie-in with the company’s energy storage solutions, a spokesman has confirmed.
A programme to re-configure New York’s energy networks, including a comprehensive evaluation of energy storage, could provide “valuable lessons” for other parts of the world, according to the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology consortium (NY BEST).