Sustainable Melbourne Fund takes mission – and rooftop PV – across Australia
A new $200 million partnership with Bank Australia has boosted the capability of the Sustainable Melbourne Fund to help commercial and agricultural enterprises nationwide. For many businesses, reducing electricity costs and emissions through solar installation is the first project on their wishlist.
Sonnen starts shipping batteries made in South Australia to New Zealand
The German energy storage provider has begun shipping batteries made in the former Holden factory in the north of Adelaide to New Zealand. Sonnen batteries will be available exclusively through the manufacturer’s local partner, Taspac Energy.
UK researchers seek to use perovskite solar cells for hydrogen production
A research team has applied a waterproof coating obtained from graphite to a perovskite cell intended to power the production of hydrogen underwater. The cell is said to have worked underwater longer than expected.
IHS Markit expects 4.3 GW of new storage this year
And the analyst expects that annual new additions figure to rise to 10.6 GW in 2025. This year the U.S. will surpass South Korea as the largest storage market due to new capacity for solar-plus-storage projects. In Japan and Australia, growth will be spurred by the termination of FIT programs.
Sunrun eating into utility operations
By providing solar-plus-storage, contracting to supply capacity in wholesale markets and even considering microgrid communities, Sunrun is taking on more of the space traditionally occupied by utilities and large, centralized power generators.
Spain’s Balearic Islands to host 10 MW hydrogen project
The green hydrogen production plant planned for the Lloseta industrial area will be a pioneer project for Spain and Europe, say regional government officials, and is scheduled to start operating from 2021.
EDF commissions ‘France’s largest collective self-consumption PV project’
A social housing development of 100 dwellings will benefit from the electricity generated by 600 sq meters of PV panels. Any output not used by residents will power hot water tanks, effectively functioning as an energy storage element of the project.
French-German battery alliance secures €5 billion as Tesvolt works on gigafactory
Ministers have reaffirmed plans for a Franco-German battery industry. The project is being supported in principle by the European Commission, which could give its approval by October. Meanwhile, German storage specialist Tesvolt is building a commercial storage system factory in Germany.
Battery storage market will be worth $13 billion by 2023
Analyst Globaldata says falling system prices, and the need for more resilient grids and favorable policies, continue to fire the energy storage industry around the globe and the Asia-Pacific region is likely to remain the biggest market.
Region’s first utility scale solar-plus-storage project comes online in Mexico
Located in the town of La Paz, in Baja California Sur, the Aura Solar III plant has a generation capacity of 32 MW and includes a lithium-ion battery storage system with a capacity of 10.5 MW/7.0 MWh.
