Large-scale battery projects of the type announced earlier this month by Renewable Energy Systems (RES) America are a “natural fit” for renewable energy developers, according to one analyst.

The German solar industry association, BSW Solar, has created an extensive report on safety for lithium-ion battery-based energy storage systems for home use, and plans to publish an English language version next week.

Canadian Solar has finalised a deal to provide 4MW of energy storage, to be used to support the electrical grid in Ontario, Canada.

Solar microinverter specialist Enphase has announced its first move into energy storage, launching an energy management system which includes an AC battery, at the Solar Power International show in Las Vegas this week.

Lithium iron phosphate battery-based energy storage systems from German manufacturer Automatic Storage Device Sonnenspeicher (ASD) will be installed in new houses from WeberHaus, which makes prefabricated homes for the German market.

German mechanical engineering company Manz has supplied a lithium-ion battery production line to a research centre for the commercial production of the batteries, initially for the e-mobility sector, at the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Wuerttemberg (ZSW) in Ulm.

Australian solar and energy storage company ZEN Energy has received a AUS$200,000 (US$184,000) grant from local government toward the development and commercialisation of its energy storage technologies.

PV Tech Storage speaks to Wolfram Walter of German storage designer and manufacturer ASD Sonnenspeicher about a subject close to home, his home. Walter built a battery system for his own PV array, turning it into a business and turning his prized Porsche into a PV-friendly EV along the way.

In a two-part video interview with PV Tech Storage, Wolfram Walter, founder of battery manufacturer ASD Sonnenspeicher, said electricity storage suffered from an image problem. He describes to Andy Colthorpe how his company is marrying cutting-edge technology with cool design to appeal to a broader market.