Secure financing for energy storage is likely to be the main driver for its deployment, the chief of the UK’s biggest solar developer has said, echoing views given to Energy Storage News by analysis firm Lux Research.

Battery energy storage used on the grid for ancillary services has been gaining momentum ever since the United States changed its frequency regulation markets by introducing a concept known as pay-for-performance. Roger Lin of NEC ES takes a good look at how this space is evolving, as the UK’s National Grid prepares a 200MW tender for enhance frequency response.

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.

A UK initiative to provide codes of best practise in the selling and installation of PV systems paired with electricity storage is underway, with authors of a guide seeking consultation from stakeholders.

Germany’s market-leading residential energy storage system maker Sonnenbatterie is to enter the UK residential energy storage market with its lithium-ion storage system Sonnenbatterie eco.

The UK government could deliver cheaper electricity bills to households and businesses by pursuing a decentralised energy strategy with solar and storage at its centre, a new report co-ordinated by major consultancy group KPMG has claimed.

One UK energy storage company has compared its latest venture to the energy trading markets of California ISO, as it prepares to pay its customers for providing vital grid services through their residential systems.

Investing in energy storage batteries to “create a 21st century, decentralised energy system” could pave the way to a sustainable and subsidy-free future for solar in the UK, according to an influential former minister.

The UK, catapulted into being one of the world’s leading regions for solar PV deployment unexpectedly over the past couple of years, is now facing just as unexpected challenges in the form of drastic FiT cuts of as much as 87%. While this is undoubtedly bad for the industry, there are some possible avenues for policy adjustments that won’t require subsidising as well as strategies the industry could adopt to make self-consuming solar with storage a more viable option, writes Simon Daniel of Moixa Technology.

The €32 million (US$36 million) Hydrogen Mobility Europe programme was launched today, with Germany, the UK, the Scandinavian countries and France signing up with the aim of expanding hydrogen refuelling station coverage across the continent. Andy Colthorpe speaks to one of the companies behind the project and power-to-gas energy expert Christopher Hebling of Fraunhofer ISE about this “modern fairytale” technology.