Australia’s Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) released a hefty report on global energy storage and how it relates back to the domestic situation last month. Tom Kenning investigated one of the report’s main conclusions – that the value for energy storage in Australia, initially at least, will most likely be found behind-the-meter.

Effective ways of assigning economic value to services provided by aggregated storage systems must be found to progress the use of such technology, according to a technical consultant involved in a recent report assessing Australia’s energy storage landscape.

PV Tech Storage’s publisher, Solar Media, recently conducted a round table discussion event, bringing together a range of industry figures from analysts to manufacturers, to discuss the future of the UK residential energy storage industry. While there is more in depth coverage of event to come on PV Tech Storage and through Solar Media’s various other channels, here are two short videos summing up some of the thoughts of attendees on key topics.

Enphase CEO Paul Nahi has said that the “unique” modularity of the company’s battery solution could be “incredibly valuable” to help it to meet the needs of customers in regions including Australia, where there is a “real economic case” for energy storage.

A research project conducted in partnership between Abu Dhabi’s Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST), an independent university focused on sustainable technology, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will develop an energy storage system using Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries (VRFBs).

The closing of Feed-in-Tariffs (FiTs) for solar installations in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) at the end 2016 presents a “perfect marketing opportunity” for energy storage retailers, according to industry members.

Some news in brief from around the world of energy storage this week: One of the big solar inverter players, KACO, has picked out Ideal Power’s patented technology to boost its storage push, Electrovaya has been quick to highlight the positive impact it said it received from purchasing Litarion, an EV fast-charge station could be the first step in a big change for West Australia.

Mercom Capital Group’s second quarter 2015 report into VC funding in the energy storage, smart grid and energy efficiency sectors made for interesting reading for the battery and storage space. As PV Tech Storage noted on 21 July from the report, VC funding almost doubled over the first quarter of the year and the sector saw Arnold Schwarzenegger put his money where his green credentials are, bringing some celebrity investor gloss to the proceedings. PV Tech Storage spoke to Mercom Capital chief Raj Prabhu to delve deeper into the statistics.

A programme to re-configure New York’s energy networks, including a comprehensive evaluation of energy storage, could provide “valuable lessons” for other parts of the world, according to the New York Battery and Energy Storage Technology consortium (NY BEST).

As part of France’s programme to install PV-plus-storage on its island territories, renewable energy developer Langa has selected integrated solutions provider Schneider Electric and battery designer Saft for two new projects in Corsica.