UK: Consumers ready for Time of Use tariffs
The first stage of the U.K.s largest smart grid project has returned results indicating that consumers are ready to embrace Time of Use (TOU) electricity tariffs, if they stand to benefit from lower electricity charges.
A greener Apple
Apple has managed to up its renewable energy utilization by 114% from 2010, according to the new environment report released by the company. As one of the top global brands, the corporate giant’s goal is to power every Apple facility with renewable energy.
Germany: EnBW believes grid expansion can be partially avoided
Plant and grid operators start a progressive pilot project for better grid integration. This was presented at the “PV System Technology Forum” in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Global microgrid market to grow
Research and consulting firm GlobalData’s latest report shows that the global microgrid market will be worth US$18.9 billion in 2020. This will be a significant increase from the US$5.3 billion reaped in 2012.
Germany: Altmaier still for storage incentives
Germany’s Federal Environment Minister is still advocating PV storage incentives from May onwards. However the funding issue remains unresolved. Peter Altmaier also mentioned at the Energy Storage conference in Düsseldorf that he expects more than 4 GW of PV development in Germany this year.
Utility-scale battery storage to top 25 GW in Asia Pacific in 2022
The utility-scale advanced battery market in the Asia Pacific region will amount to 25.1 GW of storage and be worth US$12 billion in 2022, according to a report by Pike Research.
Planned German storage incentive criticized
The Energy Storage conference in Düsseldorf, Germany, began with more than 500 visitors. Project examples show the conditions under which storage systems pay off and make sense.
EU energy infrastructure budget halved by austerity drive
Documentation relating to the new EU energy infrastructure guidelines has laid bare just how savagely austerity-driven leaders cut the funds available to upgrade grids to harness renewables.
Inverter buyer survey: Storage seen as key
An inverter buyers survey conducted by IHS Inc. revealed that there is a growing need for energy storage in PV systems. More than 400 global PV inverter customers responded to the survey, of which a third expect to be using energy storage in over 40% of the PV systems they install by 2015.
EPIA: Self-consumption can drive PV storage
The European PV Industry Association (EPIA) has endorsed the recent European Commission (EC) working paper on PV storage and says more must be done to encourage storage systems at a consumer, as well as distribution, level.
