The prospect of the ‘commoditisation’ of lithium-ion batteries is not likely to be as clear-cut as has been seen in the PV industry, one manufacturer has said.

Trina Best, the energy storage company begun as part of Trina Solar but now a separate entity in its own right, wants to go public by 2020 and has not ruled out building its own battery cell production facilities in future.

The proposed deal for Tesla to acquire US rooftop solar company SolarCity makes sense but could distract both parties from immediate core objectives, according to Lux Research.

BMW has announced plans to launch a stationary energy storage product for both residential and small commercial applications using the high-voltage batteries used in i3 electric vehicles, including those repurposed from existing EVs.

Tesla has made an offer to acquire SolarCity in stock swap deal that would give SolarCity shareholders a premium of 21-30%.

Sunamp, a maker of heat batteries from Scotland, UK, was recently selected to go on a special mission to showcase its wares in China as one of a number of startups. Maurizio Zaglio from the company talks about his experiences in Shenzhen.

Morgan Stanley has predicted a boom in solar-plus-storage in Australia, calling PV a direct substitute for grid power and warning investors that the incumbent energy industry has been slow to react to trends.

The White House announcement of new developments and investment in energy storage has been characterised as “the first executive office push for energy storage” that will “undoubtedly galvanize” the industry, in a new GTM Research brief by the firm’s energy storage director Ravi Manghani.

Storage system manufacturers Sonnen and Leclanché are in early talks to help deliver an “unprecedented” scheme in England which will see their batteries rolled out as part of a potentially huge project.

President Obama has announced a raft of activity focussing on the development, investment and regulatory framework for energy storage.