One research firm has welcomed predictions from a think tank that Germany’s electricity network could cope with the addition of “huge amounts” of solar-plus-storage and even benefit, but also agreed that policy changes will most likely be required to enable that scenario.
The UK’s Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) has publishing a report which looks at how unlocking the potential of electricity storage through regulatory changes would support the transition to a secure and affordable low carbon economy, adding to a chorus of recent voices on similar topics coming from Britain.
PV Tech Storage spoke to Nancy Pfund of ‘social impact’ investors DBL Partners, among Tesla’s early backers and participants in two of the top five VC fund plays of this year’s third quarter.
In contrast to “behind-the-meter” household energy storage systems, whose operational strategy is generally aimed at local financial optimisation of power consumption, the use cases for battery technologies on an industrial scale are primarily determined by the requirements of the electricity supply grids, particularly the regional distribution grids. SMA’s Voker Wachenfeld and Dr Alexsandra Sasa Bukvic-Schaefer take a closer look at some of the demands and applications driving the sector forward.
The UK government could deliver cheaper electricity bills to households and businesses by pursuing a decentralised energy strategy with solar and storage at its centre, a new report co-ordinated by major consultancy group KPMG has claimed.
Energy storage is likely to be a near future “game changer” for Australia and could make the country the world leader in solar-plus-storage, a new report claims.
Financial activity in the third quarter of this year was slightly flatter than Q2 for smart grid, batteries, energy storage and energy efficiency, but the average deal size grew, according to Mercom Capital Group.
US commercial energy storage provider Stem has deployed its first system in Hawaii, for a pilot project that could help the island state’s main utility reach renewable energy goals “better, and at lower cost”.
Energy storage will be used to maximise the benefit of locally generated solar power, including reducing transmission losses, in a trial put together in Bavaria, Germany, by a partnership between academics, private companies and local government.
While some observers have breathlessly called 2015 the “Year of the Battery,” a more accurate description might be that we are seeing the dawn of the “Age of Energy Storage,” especially the winning combination of storage integrated with solar and emerging smart grid technologies, writes Panasonic’s Daniel Roca.
