It seems that everyone in the renewable energy industry is talking about electrical energy storage, which promises to unlock the potential for the rapid expansion of renewable energy technologies. But […]
Category: Solar System Products
Solar Choice blog articles and reviews about components for solar power systems, including solar inverters, solar cells, solar modules, and solar batteries.
New pomegranate-like material boosts lithium-ion battery performance
In an interesting case of biomimicry, scientists at Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have designed a new electrode material for lithium-ion batteries using silicon nanoparticles clustered like […]
IEA says renewables cost-competitive with new-build fossil fuel plants in OECD nations
Solar and wind energy can play major roles in transforming and decarbonising the world’s electricity grids, and at little extra cost, according to the International Energy Agency. The IEA, a […]
Bill Gates-backed renewables storage battery begins production
Attracting the attention – and money – of Bill Gates is a big deal. But Aquion Energy, a battery technology start-up, has managed to woo not just the world’s richest […]
Solar with energy storage already reaching grid price parity in some areas: RMI
A new study from the Rocky Mountain Institute finds that parity for rooftop solar and energy storage is closer than anyone thinks – in fact for some states in the […]
New, no-penetration solar panel mounting system for gable rooftops: SolarPod
Home owners with old or delicate sloped/gable roofs often hesitate to install solar panels on their roof. They worry that penetrating the roof may lead to water leakage or that […]
Tesla battery factory could be game-changer for energy storage affordability
In a letter to shareholders about the company’s earnings, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk announced plans for the electric vehicle manufacturer to begin producing its own battery cells at a […]
Germany to build world’s first modular, multi-technology battery storage system
Can’t decide on which battery technology to use for your next big energy storage project? Well, now you can use them all! A consortium consisting of researchers, an electric utility, […]
Sugar powered fuel cells for a solar-powered economy
Excessive sugar consumption might be a big no-no for the health-conscious, but according to a recent paper published in Nature Communications, what’s bad for you might be the perfect fuel […]
New electrode technology claims to make sodium batteries worth their salt
Researchers at Kansas State University have developed a new composite paper electrode for use in sodium-ion batteries, potentially revolutionizing the design of sodium-ion batteries and getting them one step closer […]
Areva and Schneider Electric to partner on hydrogen storage for remote areas
France’s Areva and Schneider Electric have entered a partnership to develop systems for energy storage using hydrogen fuel cell technology. The partnership pools the expertise of the two companies to enhance […]
Paper and PV: Wood pulp-based material boosts organic PV efficiency
Solar cells today are made from a wide cocktail of materials, from earth-abundant materials (Silicon and Carbon) to exotic rare earth metals (Indium, Gallium, etc), and from polymers to organic […]
Market for module-level power electronics set to grow five-fold in 2017
Greentech Media Research (GTM) has recently released a report that predicts the module-level power electronics (MLPE) market to grow five-fold by 2017, singling out 2014 to be the landmark year […]
Japan’s Sumitomo to deploy used EV batteries as storage for solar farm
A large scale storage facility that will be attached to a solar farm in Japan is about to test the theory that re-used batteries can offer an effective, and cheap, […]
US commercial energy storage market to grow 5-fold by 2020: GTM
Driven mainly by increased uptake of solar PV systems, the US commercial energy storage market is ripe to grow from 120 megawatts (MW) in 2014 to around 720MW by 2020–an […]
EnerVault unveils cost-competitive flow batteries for energy storage
Flow battery manufacturer, EnerVault, has recently announced that it is close to commissioning its first commercial flow battery-based energy storage system in California, USA. The Global Cleantech 100 listed company has also […]
Elon Musk adds Tesla batteries to grid PV with SolarCity’s DemandLogic
After creating highly successful online payment systems (PayPal), electric sports cars (Tesla Motors), commercial space travel (SpaceX) and more recently, the largest US residential PV installation company (SolarCity), billionaire Elon […]
Are falling battery costs the solution to solar PV ills?
While the cost of solar PV is no longer the roadblock to widespread adoption it used to be, one can’t say the same about its intermittent nature, which continues to […]
Solar modules set to get smarter in 2014
While no one argues that investing in PV modules isn’t a smart move today, it won’t be long before we start asking if our modules are just as smart – […]
Victorian network operator to dispatch grid energy storage trial
Victoria’s SP Ausnet, the grid operator for the state, has plans to run an grid energy storage trial in order to examine new ways to deal with the issue of […]
SolaX Power hybrid energy storage systems and batteries
SolaX Power, a subsidiary of the Suntellite Group, is a developer and manufacturer of energy management & energy storage technologies. The company offers an array of products for residential, commercial […]
Outlook on energy storage optimistic for 2014
Good things appear to be in store for the energy storage industry in the new year, with a number of sources pointing to major movement in 2014, thanks in great […]
Versol Solar: Mounting & tracking solutions for all PV applications
Versol Solar is a manufacturer of ground and roof mounting products, tracking systems and building-integrated solutions for solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays. The company provides comprehensive technical support for solar projects […]
2013: The Australian year in solar
2013 was a huge year full of ups and downs for the solar industry globally and in Australia. What were some of the most important milestones, events and trends of […]
QBotix: Robot-controlled tracking systems for ground-mounted solar systems
QBotix is a company offering a revolutionary approach to ground-mounted solar systems through its solar tracking technology. The QBotix Robotic Tracking System (RTS) employs intelligent, self-charging, track-mounted robots (“SolBots”) which adjust […]
PVz: Analysing energy bills for sizing solar PV systems
PVz is a tool designed by solar PV industry professionals to facilitate the process of analysing electricity usage in order to choose a solar system size most appropriate for the […]
Latronic Sunpower: Australian-made grid-connect and stand-alone inverters
Latronic Sunpower is a Queensland, Australia-based inverter manufacturer that operates globally. The company has been in business for over 27 years. The company makes inverters for residential, commercial and industrial […]
Magellan Power’s ‘smoothing’ devices for grid-connect solar
When northwestern WA‘s electricity utility Horizon mandated that solar photovoltaic (PV) systems must regulate their power output, one of the first companies with the capacity to offer a viable technological […]
Magellan Power’s DCSS: Australian-made, small-scale energy storage for solar power systems
Power equipment developer & manufacturer Magellan Power (creators of the Solar Smoother) have introduced a small-scale energy storage system (the DCSS) for residential solar photovoltaic (PV) installations. With a 22-year […]
Solar panel cleaning made easier: Ritec ClearShield
One of the much-touted advantages of solar panels as an energy generation technology is their low maintenance requirements. Once installed, a solar panel array will continue to produce power for […]
South Australia feed-in tariff recipients could lose benefit by installing energy storage
SA electricity distribution company South Australia Power Networks mentioned in a recently released ‘PV Process Update‘ (PDF) that anyone currently receiving one of the state’s solar feed-in tariffs (premium or transitional) […]
