Energy Storage

Germany’s federal and state governments have agreed to a phasing out of funding and cuts in the country’s photovoltaic feed-in tariffs. It is expected that the Bundestag and Bundesrat will discuss and make a decision on the compromise this week.

China’s Trina Solar Limited and Germany-based E3/DC have said they will collaborate on next generation energy storage solutions.

Panasonic Corporation will begin mass production of its lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery system, which has been developed for European residential homes kitted out with solar.

This week brought encouraging news from China regarding the development of smart grids to help enable the smart and sustainable cities of tomorrow. In addition to the key role solar can play, the need to focus on technology communication was highlighted – if the application is not visualized to the end-user, the adoption rate of the technology will suffer.

Nine Japanese companies have launched a smart grid demonstration project in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

U.S.-based Petra Solar has entered into an agreement with the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA), the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) and Caspian Energy Holdings to undertake a five megawatt (MW) smart solar energy project.

Photovoltaic product, battery and vehicle manufacturer, BYD, has ambitious plans. In addition to reaching five GW of module capacity by 2016 and switching to full automation in a few weeks, it intends to start producing solar energy storage solutions on a mass scale in 2013. It is also planning manufacturing locations outside of China.

Ever since the 1603 Treasury and Section 1705 loan guarantee programs expired last year, succumbing to what many characterized as premature deaths, renewable energy advocates have been inconsolable. And they haven’t suffered silently. They continue to find ways to remind the U.S. Congress that the solar sector is not receiving the support it needs to build jobs and independence from fossil fuels, or to compete on a global scale.

Solar is a small, but strong part of LG’s business states Yun Ju Hwan of LG Electronics, during a visit to the company’s cell and module factory in South Korea. While capacity ramp ups are on hold, the group is planning to launch a solar storage solution and thin film panels in 2013, and manufacture its own polysilicon.

Bosch has officially acquired Conergy’s photovoltaic inverter subsidiary, voltwerk electronics GmbH, following approval from the German anti-trust authorities. The purchase price was not disclosed.