Energy Storage

E.ON and SMA to lead on 5 MW modular battery system, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and located at Aachen University in Germany.

3M and South Korean LG Chem have signed a patent deal for the continued development of NCM (nickel, cobalt, manganese) lithium-ion batteries. LG Chem hopes to develop improved electric car batteries with the acquired patent knowledge.

Energy storage is on course to see a boom similar to that in the solar market; Australia aims to tap this potential to facilitate the further roll out of renewables. A new study has identified key investment areas, and barriers, to storage implementation. An overview of the global storage market sees Hawaii and Scotland presenting viable approaches to implementation, although California and Germany are said to have the most “thorough” storage programs.

pv magazine’s August edition explores the state of Japan’s solar policy, examining whether future installation projections might well be accurate; we look at the growing trend of 1,500 V components at utility scale, and investigate the impact of solar+storage at remote mining sites.

According to Tesla’s Q2 2015 earnings report, the company has reduced full-year delivery outlook for its vehicles, causing Tesla shares to fall yesterday. However, its storage solutions are seeing a surge in demand.

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) in India has called for Expression of Interest (EOI) for energy storage demonstration projects to support renewable energy generation. MNRE has set up a capacity addition target of 175MW by 2022.

Obama’s clean power plan angers the coal industry, Indian auction strikes another low solar price, further cost reductions are on the way, and SolarCity’s plans for world domination edge closer to reality.

A utility in northeastern Australia is rolling out a pilot solar+storage pilot project to create a ‘virtual power plant’ in areas where grid capacity is constrained. The 12-month project will allow for remote control of the residential solar+storage systems to provide grid support.

With 20.5% market share, Panasonic has emerged as the leading lithium ion battery cell supplier to the global market for the first half of the year. The data comes from Korean market research firm SNE Research, which found that East Asian manufacturers are dominating the space, with Samsung SDI, LG Chem, ATL and Sony rounding out the top five suppliers.

Apricum’s latest report based on its global market PV model shows continual growth in cumulative installations. Brazil looks set to possibly become the new PV darling.