I recently had an opportunity to speak with Gary Wetzel, Director of Commercial and Industrial Business Development at S&C Electric Company about prospects for energy storage in the industry. S&C sells a variety of products to the electric industry, including switching equipment, automation products, and storage systems. Like many emerging technologies that look to go Continue reading →
Solar energy will not become an integral part of the energy supply system in Europe until suppliers, including private residences, have unlimited access to the energy grid. In practice, this would mean that they could supply their self-produced solar energy to the grid at a profitable rate 24/7. This is not yet the case today, Continue reading →
The International Photovoltaic Equipment Association (IPVEA) and EuPD Research (Bonn, Germany) have founded a new organization to support and enable cooperation between solar, energy storage and smart grid companies. The International Battery and Energy Storage Alliance (IBESA) also seeks to create access to professional resources, market intelligence, new networks and emerging markets. IPVEA says its Continue reading →
A newly formed alliance, the International Battery and Energy Storage Alliance (IBESA), has been created to help facilitate collaboration between solar, electrical energy storage, and smart grid technologies companies. via International Battery & Energy Storage Alliance Established | CleanTechnica.
There’s significant progress to report on an idea that could transform electric vehicles from a potential grid destabilizer to a helpful piece in the energy storage puzzle. A joint venture between the University of Delaware and NRG Energy that aims to turn the EV-to-grid connection into a two-way street – with the fitting name eV2g – said that Continue reading →
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory have developed a new software tool called the Energy Zones (EZ) Mapping Tool that will help EISPC members identify geographic areas suitable for the development of clean energy resources, which are renewables, natural gas, coal carbon storage and nuclear. Certain forms of energy storage Continue reading →
An alliance has been established to support and facilitate collaboration between solar, electrical energy storage and smart grid technologies companies. Under the leadership of Markus A.W. Hoehner, CEO of EuPD Research and Bryan D. Ekus, managing director of IPVEA (International PV Equipment Association), the first alliance for battery and storage solution providers in the PV Continue reading →
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is deploying a “smart grid” energy storage system produced in conjunction with Vancouver-based Alpha Technologies Ltd. and Corvus Energy. via UBC unveils Smart Grid energy storage system – Journal of Commerce.
Combating global warming is going to require a huge influx of green power onto the grid, both at the large scale (think giant wind farms or solar power plants) and at the fragmented, distributed scale (think rooftop solar panels, on-site cogeneration systems, factory and hospital backup power systems, and even battery-based grid energy storage systems). Continue reading →
NEMA endorsed HR 1465, STORAGE 2013, which promotes adoption of state-of-the-art energy storage technologies, calling this legislation “carefully crafted” in its regard for entire range of energy storage technologies. “Energy storage is a key enabler of the Smart Grid and is transforming the way we think about electricity,” said NEMA President and CEO Evan R. Gaddis, who also Continue reading →
Lux Research recently published the report Finding the Perfect Partner in the Global Grid Storage Market which outlines the complex grid storage partnership web including 949 strategic relationships spread among 877 relevant organizations. One of the most interesting and telling trends is the clear focus on start-up financing and support in the American markets, contrasted Continue reading →
UBC President Stephen Toope today unveiled a new energy storage system, or prototype smart grid, created in partnership with Alpha Technologies Ltd. and Corvus Energy. The project integrates one megawatt hour of stored energy — enough to power an average home for 1,000 hours — into a power grid that supports three major campus facilities. Continue reading →
Even a casual observer can see that energy generation and storage research and development for the smart grid has provided a wealth of innovations and possible solutions to nagging problems. No, they’re not all good ideas and many will far short of making it to the marketplace. But sometimes we see technologies developing that, while Continue reading →
Combating global warming is going to require a huge influx of green power onto the grid, both at the large scale (think giant wind farms or solar power plants) and at the fragmented, distributed scale (think rooftop solar panels, on-site cogeneration systems, factory and hospital backup power systems, and even battery-based grid energy storage systems). Continue reading →
A new report from GBI Research forecasts substantial and steady growth in the global energy storage market to 2020. The research firm says the global market was valued at $39.5 billion in 2011 and should reach $62 billion by 2016, with a compound annual growth rate of 9%. via Smart Grid: Steady, substantial growth expected Continue reading →
The discovery by Curtis Berlinguette and Simon Trudel, who are both in the chemistry department at University of Calgary’s Faculty of Science, is a way to make catalysts for converting electricity into chemical energy. According to a story in e! Science News, the technology opens the door for both homeowners and energy companies to more Continue reading →
With vehicle-to-building (V2B) technology – which makes the energy stored in plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) batteries available to commercial and residential buildings – vehicles can compete with both traditional local generation and stationary storage for offsetting demand charges or providing peak shaving services. V2B technology has been studied for the purpose of emergency backup power Continue reading →
A Montana electric cooperative is helping a commercial customer test energy storage by installing a large battery at co-op headquarters. According to Electric Co-op Today, Flathead Electric Cooperative sees the tests as an economic development project. And as a way to research battery storage for use at other sites. The co-op will house battery storage Continue reading →
The Denver Post talked with researchers about the new $135 million Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) located on the NREL campus in Golden, Colorado. There are 15 research labs, all linked by a supercomputer, in the 182,000 square foot facility that will house 200 researchers and scientists. As the Post story explains, by replicating the power Continue reading →
The vanadium redox flow battery is not a phrase that comes tripping off the tongue. It certainly is not a household phrase. But it’s a technology we are going to be hearing more about in grid-scale energy storage, as it is coming around the outside track at an accelerating speed. Two weeks ago, at IEEE’s Continue reading →
