The July 2021 episode of the Solar Media Podcast, sponsored by Honeywell, is now available to stream, as we delve into everything you need to know about recent polysilicon trade sanctions in the US.

There’s still a disconnect between what’s achievable and what is actually being achieved in the drive to decarbonise. Despite a boom in renewable energy generation, Australia’s government line is instead commitment to “a gas-fired recovery”. That commitment is a dangerous one, says Lillian Patterson of the Clean Energy Council.

Electric school buses in the US could be turned into a virtual power plant (VPP) resource, through a new partnership between student transport supplier Zum Services and artificial intelligence-driven distributed energy software company AutoGrid.

Regulatory approval has been given for a 100MW / 400MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) facility which will be sited on land formerly occupied by a natural gas and oil-fired power plant which had been described as one of New York’s biggest sources of pollution.

Vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) manufacturer VRB Energy will supply a 500kWh energy storage system to a Chinese government scientific facility with the potential that it will be used to help develop the country’s decarbonisation policies.

The cost of long-duration, grid-scale energy storage should be reduced 90% within this decade in order to accommodate the “hundreds of gigawatts of clean energy” needed, US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said yesterday.

A group of eight transmission system operators (TSOs) across Europe have launched a joint initiative to highlight and develop the role that the grid plays in enabling decarbonisation targets to be met.

The electricity system operator (ESO) arm of National Grid in the UK has outlined four different pathways for the future of energy in the country in its Future Energy Scenarios 2021 document, detailing the transformation of the energy mix and flexibility, the residential sector and the transport sector.

Vertically-integrated solar PV company Canadian Solar has been awarded a 45MW / 45MWh battery storage project by Colombia’s Ministry of Energy and Mines.

A seasonal heat storage plant which will have a capacity of about 90GWh looks set to begin construction next year in Vantaa, Finland, with water stored in underground caverns heated to 140°C using renewable energy and waste heat.