A US government energy saving scheme will pay out US$40 million for the development of a solar-plus-storage microgrid at a missile test site operated by the country’s military.

Utility Florida Power & Light claims that a just-completed battery addition will increase output from a large-scale solar farm in its home state, thought to be the first time a DC-coupled solution has been used at this scale in the US.

Vertically-integrated solar energy company First Solar will be involved in the first megawatt-scale battery system announced in Arizona since it was revealed the state could put a 3,000MW energy storage deployment target in place.

Tesla reported another major decline in its residential solar installations for the fourth quarter of 2017, while a supply shortage for its residential energy storage system ‘Powerwall 2’ has created a customer backlog of solar and storage installs of more than one year.

African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) has invested in Starsight Power Utility, a Nigeria-based energy services company providing solar-diesel-battery hybrid and efficient cooling and lighting solutions to its commercial and industrial clients.

Energy storage in the state of South Australia has continued its prolific pace of development with the announcement of two new grid-scale projects and a sizeable commercial and industrial (C&I) installation.

Members of the public in South Australia are being given the chance to participate in creating the biggest ‘virtual power plant’ of solar PV and batteries the world has ever seen.

Chinese electronics and engineering company Huawei, which also manufacturers inverters for solar PV systems, is starting the supply of its FusionHome Smart Energy Solution, providing solar-plus-storage capabilities to the Australian residential market during the first quarter of 2018.

A 3,000MW energy storage target, proposed in Arizona as part of a grid modernisation policy, recognises the role of the technology in reducing the need for fossil fuels to stabilise the grid, a consultant has said.

The addition of energy storage has made a 1MW community rooftop solar project in Massachusetts viable, after a long-term PPA was secured with a local utility.