UK energy and climate secretary Amber Rudd has spoken of her excitement of the “fantastic opportunity” posed by combining energy storage solutions with solar PV.

Energy storage can become a “significant” component for future balancing of the UK National Grid, but must overcome policy challenges if it is to realise its potential.

Battery manufacturer BYD’s deal to supply up to five electric double-decker buses for London is a “big win” for the company but not enough for them to start discussions on a European base, according to Lux Research’s Lilia Xie.

Energy storage technology is now used in 44% of US microgrids with 92% of that storage commissioned since 2012, according to GTM Research’s latest report.

Residential solar will be sold almost exclusively in bundled energy systems that include storage and energy management components within a “couple of years” the CEO of Enphase has predicted.

In less than a week, more than 180,000 Spanish citizens have signed a petition against plans for a new ‘sun tax’ on use of batteries for residential self-consumption of solar energy in Spain.

24M, a battery company that claims it can achieve 50% cost-savings over existing Li-ion technology and hit US$100 per kWh by 2020, is positioning itself as a ‘disruptor’ of the energy storage space, an industry analyst has said.

US PV installer SolarCity is now taking orders for solar and home energy storage systems including Tesla’s new Powerwall battery pack, as part of the company’s expanded homebuilder programme.

ASD Sonnenspeicher is preparing to put a new piece of battery technology on the market that allows cells to be connected in parallel, with the company claiming it could have a transformative effect on energy storage, batteries and EVs.

Following another year at Intersolar Europe where energy storage has carved out an even bigger place for itself than before, SMA’s Dr. Alexsandra Sasa Bukvic-Schaefer and Volker Wachenfeld give their take on one of the big talking points in residential system design.