News in brief: Sunverge launches AC-coupled systems, whether South Australia’s blackouts could have been a different story with batteries, German government approves model region project for renewables, storage and grids.

A US state-backed organisation is partnering with the government of Singapore to build and test up to three energy storage systems using a variety of technologies on the island state.

By combining PV with a storage solution, homeowners gain from a variety of possibilities to increase self-consumption, improve system profitability, and get backup power. However, it is important to know how to select the right kind of storage solution. Lior Handelsman of SolarEdge discusses some of the main factors involved.

Solar tracking manufacturer NEXTracker has unveiled a storage solution paired with its PV tracking infrastructure.

A local authority in the UK has approved planning permission for the construction of a 20MW energy storage system which will provide real-time grid stabilisation to the local distribution network.

Powin Energy will supply a 30kW/40kWh battery system for the University of Washington’s Clean Energy Institute.

Centrica, multinational major utility and owner of British Gas, is to launch a £19 million (US$24.2 million) UK pilot project which will assess the development of a virtual energy marketplace with renewables and storage at its heart in the UK.

Zinc-air battery-based energy storage system maker Fluidic Energy has received US$20 million in investment for projects in south-east Asia from a private equity fund which includes the Asian Development Bank as a partner.

German automobile giant BMW is to launch a new ‘Digital Charging Service’ (DCS) for its portfolio of electric vehicles early next year, promising to integrate EVs with national grids and on-site renewable generators.

Low carbon transport body Cenex has launched a technology demonstration trial of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) systems in three major European cities.