Following on from a partnership in 2017, Kostal and BYD are looking to further strengthen their ties under a new deal, which will see them provide storage solutions to the residential and commercial solar segments.

Today, Panda Green Energy Group Limited posted its results for the first half of the business year 2018. The company made itself a name when it started constructing Panda-shaped solar parks in 2017.

The New Climate Economy and OVO Energy, together with the Imperial College London, have published two independent reports pointing at the tremendous financial advantages resulting from clean tech transitions. Carbon pricing schemes could reap global sales of around US$2.8 billion, they say. Wide-spread use of storage, V2G, and electric heating could further save U.K. homes around $258 per year.

Twelve signatories from the energy and consumer goods industry have sent an open letter to the EU and U.K., calling for continued cooperation after Brexit to protect both consumer, and business, interests. The document highlights the importance of tariff-free electricity trading as intermittent renewable energy will require a higher degree of market integration.

The new policy would come into force in late 2019. PV players are warning the rule exacerbates costs and slows deployment but similar policies are in place for other types of renewables, and in most markets worldwide.

RECC survey respondents say they will face major job cuts if solar tariffs are phased out in April, as proposed by the UK government. Reportedly more than 75% of jobs in the UK’s solar sector could be lost. A previous cut in tariffs prompted the loss of 9,000 jobs. Last week the industry sent an open letter to the energy minister opposing the policy.

The first round of Ireland’s newly introduced Enduring Connection Policy – 1 (ECP-1), introduced at the beginning of the year, has resulted in considerable success for solar PV and battery storage, with the technologies clearly outcompeting various forms of gas-fired generation, biomass, and wind energy.

While it took 60 months to reach the first million electric vehicle (EV) sales, in late 2015, it took the fourth million just six months. China is driving this development. Meanwhile, as first generation EVs batteries are reaching their end-of-life, interest in second-life use cases is growing. The volume of retired EV battery packs is set to be 108 GWh by 2029 – representing a third of the expected storage capacity market at that time.

In consultations in late July this year, the U.K. Government proposed ending both the feed-in tariff (FIT) and export tariff schemes. The policy changes would end financial compensation for prosumers feeding electricity into the grid. In a letter, the industry, including major utilities like Eon and Ovo Energy, voiced their clear rejection of the plan.

Saltwater batteries can be fully recycled receiving a “cradle to cradle” certificate, and don’t contain lead or lithium. For some, this prevails over the disadvantages of saltwater batteries being considerably bigger and heavier, as well as having a lower discharging current than lithium-ion batteries.