Energy Storage

Smart grids are set to grow as Pike Research’s report shows. Meanwhile Echelon Corporation has announced two micro grid deployments in India and South Africa that will integrate distributed generation to compensate disruptions in utility-supplied power.

The consensus at Solarpraxis’ first “Project implementation conference – China 2012” in Shanghai is clear: the potential of photovoltaic project development in China is huge, particularly in light of falling system costs. However, overcoming policy and grid connection issues is key.

India-based telecommunications company, Bharti Airtel, has chosen to increase the use of solar, and other renewable energies, to replace its diesel-powered generators. The aim is to reduce its carbon footprint in Africa and cut operational costs.

According to the industry experts present at the first “Energy Storage” conference, held this week in Düsseldorf, Germany, either technology could win the race to enable Germany’s renewable energy future.

During the second day of Solarpraxis’ “Energy Storage” event in Germany’s Düsseldorf, it was claimed that the storage bottleneck needs to be broken, in order to develop large-scale storage solutions, which are critical to the future dominance of both solar and wind.

Off-grid photovoltaic system provider, Eight19 has picked up an award, as Climate Week kicked off across the U.K. yesterday. The company, which has pioneered a pay-as-you go solar system in Africa, was named Best Initiative for Small or Medium-Sized Business.

The first day has drawn to a close at Solarpraxis’ Energy Storage conference in Germany’s Düsseldorf. Following calls from Germany’s Environment Minister to rapidly develop storage technology in the country, there is a belief that Germany is well-positioned to become an energy storage technology hotspot.

Pike Research has announced that investments in community and residential energy storage (CRES) systems will increase to more than US$4 billion in the next decade.

Following in the footsteps of companies like California-based SunRun and Solar City, a new start-up company, DZ-4, is looking to bring decentralized solar power to Germany’s masses. In the following interview, founder Tobias Schütt talks to pv magazine about his plans and explains why such schemes have not already been introduced in Germany.

A three-year multilateral and multinational research project has been launched, aimed at bringing efficiency, output and utilization gains right across the photovoltaic system. From cell to smart grid, the ERG project will involve research and development businesses, and bodies from eight European countries.