Residential energy storage company sonnen announced Wednesday that is close to completing a new North American Innovation Center which will merge the company’s US manufacturing operations with product research and development.

The US Navy plans to develop a utility-scale solar farm and energy storage system on the 863.6 hectare Pacific Missile Range Facility on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, according to a draft environmental assessment.

The complexities of combining batteries and solar microgrids are explained by Sam Duby, who is co-founder and director of research and development at mini-grid technologies company SteamaCo Ltd and consults for TFE Consulting. TFE Consulting is a strategy consulting firm focusing on accelerating the energy transition in emerging markets and is active in Africa, India, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

The Southern California Public Power Authority (SCPPA), an organisation comprising the municipal utilities of 10 cities and one irrigation district, has ordered a potential 1MW of ice battery storage systems from Ice Energy.

Energy storage solutions and software company Greensmith Energy announced Tuesday that Oncor Electric Delivery has appointed Greensmith as the software provider for its microgrid facility in Dallas.

Solar PV paired with energy storage at scale could be provided to utilities at just US$0.10 per kilowatt hour, using advanced battery technology, one manufacturer has claimed.

News in brief: A selection of news highlights from the energy storage sector including a new approach to benefit stacking from Panasonic in Colorado.

Energy storage deployments in emerging markets could grow 40% annually over the next five years, from 2GW today to 80GW, but barriers include the lack of access to low-cost capital, a new report from the International Finance Corporation has found

The remote microgrid market is maturing regarding technology and financing. Now improved sales and marketing methods are needed to commercialise the huge potential on offer in this burgeoning market segment, writes Thomas Hillig.

To widen the access for solar to low-income utility customers, non-profit solar organisation GRID Alternatives and PV microinverter producer Enphase Energy have partnered to launch a new solar-plus-storage project in California for up to 50 customers.