Magazine Archive 09-2016

Disruption in building services What is the biggest challenge for the Internet of Things in the home? Viktor Grinewitschus: There is one fundamental question that is really important for the industry: Where is the value creation? How do manufacturers define themselves and what is the functionality of their devices? If you make a device completely […]

Microgrids – Smart renewable energy clusters provide independence from the grid Microgrids are defined as a group of interconnected loads and distributed energy resources (DERs) within clearly-defined electrical boundaries that act as a single controllable entity with respect to the grid. They offer a potentially cheaper, more reliable and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional centralized […]

Residential energy storage gets smarter Residential storage installs were up 5% during the first quarter of this year, according to GTM Research. But Navigant Consulting suggests that global residential energy storage will grow from 95 MW today to 3.8 GW by 2025. Within that market, North American residential storage is expected to rise 55% from 15 MW today […]

Stories from the electricity market Peter in Munich shares his power with Paul in Flensburg and Martha in Frankfurt. That is the claim on the sonnenCommunity website, where a bold headline promises “It’s time to declare your independence.” At Senec it goes like this: “Mission: 100% independence,” and, “With the Senec-Cloud you’ll store up unneeded […]

Solar smarts When we talk about intelligent interaction between photovoltaic systems and the electric grid, the inverter is the key piece of hardware. Not only does it convert DC power to AC while matching the voltage, frequency, and phase of the grid, but increasingly inverters are being asked to do more to support the grid, […]

Company Vignettes The Solar-Log 370 is an advanced residential solar PV monitoring device with grid feed-in control. The residential revenue-grade meter combines the Solar-Log monitoring technology with GE’s popular 1-210+ meter. Optional features include automatic incentive reporting, self-consumption metering, inverter direct monitoring for near real-time visualization of plant data, connection to weather sensors, remote disconnect, and […]

Germany’s Daimler is beginning to use its expertise in the electric vehicle space to deliver high quality storage systems for commercial markets. Go big AND go home Large-scale storage: Germany’s pioneering approach to all things PV has spilled over into battery storage at scale, attracting the attentions of car giant Mercedes-Benz in the process. Alongside […]

India’s National Solar Mission: As the midway point of India’s National Solar Mission approaches, the Gujarat Energy Research and Management Institute examines its progress so far, the positive impact it has had, and looks ahead to future challenges and solutions.

Fleet management: The O&M portion of the U.S. solar business is dependent on factors that differ enough that many analysts now separate the O from the M when discussing the separate business models.