In light of the Paris COP21 climate conference, New York City announced plans to incorporate 2,000 electric vehicles (EVs) into its municipal fleet by 2025. New York City claims this move will make it the largest EV fleet operator in the world. Analyst Dean Frankel of Lux Research takes a dive beyond the headlines.

A document setting out new policy directions on solar support says the UK government has recognised the potential of energy storage but has decided the feed-in tariff would not be an appropriate mechanism to incentivise uptake.

A utility has been first off the mark to put Tesla Powerwall stationary storage systems on sale in Australia, with installations expected to begin in February.

The UK’s Renewable Energy Association has slammed the results of an auction held to ensure the country has enough available capacity to avoid blackouts, with 153MW of energy storage bidding unsuccessfully in the tender.

Thin-film PV manufacturer and project developer First Solar is among the investors in a US$50 million funding round for grid-scale storage specialist Younicos, with the money raised set to fuel the latter’s expansion.

Energy storage installations in the US this year are expected to be treble what they were in 2014, making it the “biggest year ever” for storage, according to the latest forecasting by GTM Research.

It seems increasingly likely FiTs for solar and other government support mechanisms will be heavily cut in the UK, with job losses already taking place and more seeming inevitable. At first storage seemed like a simple solution for installers and the wider industry to shift its focus – even if only temporarily. UK renewable energy recruitment specialist David Hunt of Hyperion Executive Search, himself a former solar installer, takes a closer look.

While lithium-ion is expected to hold its leading position as the battery chemistry of choice for at least the next decade, it would be wise to consider investing in its possible successors, according to Lux Research.

A trade association representing some of Germany’s energy storage industry has welcomed the renewal of a support scheme for batteries, but says that establishing “fair market conditions” for storage would be more important.

The falling cost of energy storage technology will break up the concentrated nature of the global market, according to a new report by IHS Technology.