Energy Management Systems

With electric vehicles starting to gain traction, the International Energy Agency’s updated, ten-year e-mobility forecast has suggested geopolitical and economic concerns will trump environmental niceties when it comes to encouraging recycling. But what price ever-cheaper batteries?

The Chinese manufacturer has unveiled a hybrid product with a power range of 6.5-13 kW. The device has a maximum efficiency of 98.4%, according to Ginlong, and battery charging/discharging efficiency of 97.5%.

An Ieefa report has suggested the cost of generating electricity from solar will be near zero in the world’s sunniest regions by 2030-40 – despite what the naysayers at the International Energy Agency might think.

After managing to bear down on costs enough to compete with coal-fired generation, it appears solar developers in China now face a new hurdle to overcome – resistance from grid companies.

U.K.-based Power Transition today launched a crowdfunding exercise to raise the £300,000 it says it needs to scale up its blockchain-based, peer-to-peer energy trading platform beyond a 47-home demonstration project.

U.S. thinktank the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis says the nation should reorder its power network to harness cheap, modular renewables after existing power station overcapacity was worsened by plunging electricity demand during the Covid-19 shutdown.

MIT scientists have suggested used electric vehicle batteries could offer a more viable business case than purpose-built systems for the storage of grid scale solar power in California. Such ‘second life’ EV batteries, may cost only 60% of their original purchase price to deploy and can be effectively aggregated for industrial scale storage even if they have declined to 80% of their original capacity.

Inverter maker Sungrow is supplying the inverters and storage system for China’s largest, 202.8 MW/MWh solar-plus-storage facility. The plant will be connected to a new, 800 kV ultra-high voltage power line.

Specialist Alencon Systems teamed up with U.S. utility Duke Energy to look at some of the challenges faced by energy companies when adding battery storage to operational solar installations. Do you go for DC-coupled or AC-coupled? And with what sort of grounding scheme?

Scottish start-up Gravitricity is planning a project to store surplus power from renewables at Port of Leith. A 250 kW, grid-connected prototype facility will have its ability to stabilize the network tested. The system involves a 16m rig over a 150-1500m shaft.