Magazine Archive 08-2021

Now in its 10th year, pv magazine Deutschland has once again conducted its market overview of residential battery storage products. As the leading global distributed storage market, technology and application trends from Germany, including the shift to EV-charging integration, are enlightening for market participants throughout the world. Interestingly, price declines remain slow.

As technology redefines the delivery of network services, grid operators in remote areas the world over are searching for more cost-effective and reliable alternatives to traditional poles and wires. Standalone power systems are the solar application that is at the forefront of the switch, and they’re ramping up fast.

While the central vs. string debate dominates much of the discussion in the inverter market, Italian manufacturer Fimer supplies both, and argues that both are suitable depending on the circumstances. The company’s new central platform can also efficiently cope with increasing DC/AC ratios, says Maren Schmidt, managing director of its utility business line.

China’s efforts to shift electricity generation from a coal-dominated system to a greener mix of renewables is not only centered on wind, solar and other technologies – the country is also rapidly pursuing energy storage. Vincent Shaw reports from Shanghai.

For asset owners with a fleet of projects ready for revamping, there are multiple factors to consider when picking the right inverter. pv magazine caught up with Goodwe’s Michael Heidenreich to discuss these and other developments on the inverter market. Heidenreich has spent nearly two decades working with power electronics, well over half of which was in the solar industry. At Goodwe he is now the senior sales manager for projects.

India’s solar module makers have built a strong track record, and now the country is set to see vast battery facilities developed. Uma Gupta provides a look into ambitious manufacturing projects and the wider enabled ecosystem.

We are pleased to present the next batch of energy yield results from the outdoor test field in Xi’an, China. In this edition, we look at the results for June 2021, alongside additional analysis from George Touloupas, director of technology and quality at CEA.

Shouldn’t we all be driving in affordable electric cars with 800-plus kilometers of driving range by now? Surely yes, according to many of the announcements coming from battery scientists over the past decade. Yet for all the scientific breakthroughs, few in fact “break through” into commercial applications. Christian Kuss of the University of Manitoba makes the case for a holistic approach to battery materials development, and reminds us to look beyond the stars of the show and consider their interactions with the auxiliary materials that hold the whole thing together.

Lithium-ion batteries remain the front-runner to power EVs, but without clearer recycling plans from the European Union and the United States, the balance isn’t yet tipped away from heavy mining of new materials to focus on supplying industry needs, writes Ian Morse.