The number of new stationary battery systems connected to solar arrays on German homes and businesses in 2015 far outnumber the number of electric vehicles that rolled onto roads. A new study has revealed the result demonstrating that despite the German government’s official target of one million new electric cars by 2020, solar+storage is gaining significant traction in the market. The uptake of solar+storage in Germany has in some way compensated for the precipitous decline in PV systems being installed in 2015. Figures from the RWTH Aachen University published today has 12,363 electric cars were sold in Germany in 2015, at least 20,000 privately owned stationary storage systems were installed alongside PV arrays.
Renew Economy 13th Jan 2016 read more »
Engineers have called for a removal of barriers to unlock the potential of energy storage in the UK. The Institution of Civil Engineers said this could be done through exemption from balancing charges, reclassification of licences and modification of Feed in Tariffs. University of Oxford deputy director of energy research Philipp Grünewald – and co-author of ICE’s recent ‘Electricity Storage: Realising the Potential’ report – told MPs that electricity storage should be part of a “systems” approach to Britain’s energy infrastructure, where different parts of the network work together to deliver secure, affordable and low carbon energy. But he added: “Outdated regulation and lack of market signals are hampering innovative solutions”. Grünewald, who acts as the ICE’s electricity expert, was giving evidence to the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee on the benefits of applying electricity storage to the electricity grid, as means of decarbonising the UK’s network infrastructure.
New Civil Engineer 13th Jan 2016 read more »