Despite preparing investors’ expectations for flat revenues in 2016, inverter maker SMA Solar Technology has reported an increase in sales for the first quarter and exceeded management expectations by more than €10 million (US$11.4 million).
Microinverter maker and energy management specialist Enphase has started taking orders from installers for its AC battery for home PV systems in Australia and New Zealand, with shipments to start arriving in August 2016.
Oil and gas company Total has proposed to buy battery company Saft, which produces devices for the stationary storage industry as well as for transport and other applications.
GCL Systems Integration (GCL), the Silicon Module Super League’s newest member, has officially launched 2.5kWh and 5.6kWh energy storage systems for the Australian residential market.
Global maker of construction and mining equipment Caterpillar has launched an integrated micro-grid solution which combines solar PV and energy storage with the company’s power generation equipment.
Tucson Electric Power (TEP), a utility in Southern Arizona with around 420,000 customers, has received approval to build two 10MW energy storage systems, including one co-located with solar, from the state’s regulator.
Tesla is predicting it could sell more stationary storage to SolarCity during 2016 than was deployed in the entire behind-the-meter segment of the US market last year, according to analysis by GTM Research.
An agreement to work together on solar projects in Egypt has been signed by PV module manufacturer REC and a subsidiary of local telecoms company Orascom Telecom Media and Technology Holding” (OTMT).
Shifting solar power for several hours using flow batteries will quickly become economically viable if the energy storage systems are also allowed to provide other services, such as grid-balancing, one maker of the devices has claimed.
The impact of distributed solar-plus-storage, including aggregated systems, will be included in an assessment of electricity storage’s participation in wholesale electricity markets by the US’ national regulator, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
