The Australian Renewable Energy Association (ARENA) has partnered with the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) in conducting a trail on more than 150 households in New South Wales and Victoria to test how smart inverters can enhance residential solar-plus-storage systems and improve the stability of electricity on the grid.

Energy storage designer and manufacturer SimpliPhi Power Energy has completed installing a ‘plug and play microgrid’ for an off-grid solar-plus-storage project with Pure Power in California.

With over 30 companies exhibiting battery products or espousing the technology to the thousands of visitors in attendance, storage was always going to play a major role at last week’s SEUK | Clean Energy Live exhibition. David Pratt summarises the view from the show floor with regards the UK’s burgeoning storage market.

The Solar Trade Association has set out its key policy asks for the government regarding the growing energy storage market, with calls to resolve regulatory barriers and protect consumers with minimum standards leading the field.

Ideal Power, a power conversion expert, has partnered with EnerDel and its lithium-ion batteries to create a mobile solar-plus-storage microgrid for the US Air Force.

Behind-the-meter storage is forecast to become a larger segment than grid-scale storage by 2021, and could pose a potential threat to utilities, according to Bloomberg Energy Finance (BNEF) senior analyst Logan Goldie-Scot.

Tesla Motors’ possible acquisition of leading US residential PV installer SolarCity has been sealed with an all-stock transaction valued at around US$2.6 billion.

New research predicts the energy storage market in Germany will increase 11-fold in the next five years, with the residential market buoyed by declining feed-in tariffs, high electricity prices and €30 million in subsidies, while the primary reserve market boosts activity within the utilities sector.

German PV module and storage manufacturer Solarwatt recently announced its intention to expand into the UK market with the launch of its MyReserve storage system.Energy Storage News caught up with Pol Spronck, Solarwatt’s international sales manager, to discuss the latest expansion and with the company is hoping to bring to the UK.

The US must open up access to its grid and allow anyone who generates electricity to sell it on, according to an executive from energy storage company sonnen.