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.

In the year that has passed since Germany began offering subsidies for lithium-ion battery systems for residential use, around 4,000 solar-plus-batteries have been installed, the country’s Federal Solar Industry Association (BSW Solar) has announced.

Bosch claims it has developed an energy management system for optimising electrical and thermal energy consumption from solar power systems, which the company will launch at this year’s Intersolar exhibition and conference.

SolarCity looks likely to resume its programme of deploying residential energy storage systems in California, following a preliminary ruling by the state’s Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) appeared to rule in the company’s favour.

Fees being charged to interconnect residential storage systems to the grid in California are “arbitrary” and “punitive”, while some may even be illegal, according to US installer SolarCity.