Smart Grid
“Best Yet” Battery Design to Stabilise Solar Power for Grid
05 May 2013POSTED IN Research
Researchers from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Stanford University developed a simplified, highly scalable new battery design with significantly higher energy density that could stabilise the power output of alternative forms of energy, such as solar. As potential solution to notorious power fluctuation issues, the low-cost, long-life flow battery could thus enable solar energy to become a major supplier to the electrical grid.
TÜV Rheinland Appoints Gary Sorkin as Smart Grid Business Development Manager
03 April 2013POSTED IN Business News
TÜV Rheinland has named Gary Sorkin Smart Grid Business Development Manager. In his new role, Sorkin will provide support to the company’s Electrical Group drawing on more than two decades of his data communications experience. Sorkin is based in the Pleasanton, California (US), office, which also houses a Smart Grid Test Laboratory.
UK Completes First Stage of Smart Grid Project
26 March 2013POSTED IN Applications News
The UK's largest smart grid project has completed the first stage of its research into electricity consumption after establishing a series of ongoing trials with 12,000 customers.
Smart Grid Required for India’s Solar Plan
16 January 2013POSTED IN Business Features
The government of India is planning to tap the most talked about solar rooftop segment potential (estimated at 92.7GW) in a big way, adding at least 1000MW capacity by 2017. This will be done by integrating a central subsidy plan under phase 2 of National Solar Mission with initiatives being taken at the state level. In reality, India’s power success story is hindered by limited, inefficient (technically and operationally) and poorly managed grid infrastructure.
Finnish Scientist Could Revolutionise Inverter Design
16 January 2013POSTED IN Research
If this researcher at the Tampere University of Technology (TUT), Finland, is right, generally used design principles of power inverters used in photovoltaic applications are wrong. As they are attracting growing international attention, the potentially revolutionary understandings could be key to solving the problems solar photovoltaic power systems have with power quality and disruptions in the power grid.
SunPower, Eaton Partner with Ford
08 January 2013POSTED IN Business News
Ford Motor Company today announced a partnership with SunPower, Eaton and other companies to showcase how renewable energy generation with “time-flexible” loads optimizes energy consumption across a plug-in vehicle and home appliances.
Proinso Installs Self-Consumption Solar Kits
24 September 2012POSTED IN Applications News
Proinso today announced it has launched and installed its first three solar kits for self-consumption and net metering at two companies based in Fustiñana, Navarra, Spain and Guadalix, Madrid, Spain, along with a retirement home in Badajoz, Spain.
Launch of US-Japan Smart Grid
19 September 2012POSTED IN Applications News
Kyocera Corporation, the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (NEDO) of Japan and a number of other companies, research institutes and local governments announced the beginning of operations of a state-of-the-art, international smart-grid demonstration project in Los Alamos, New Mexico (US). The New Mexico project is first international collaboration in the US to use solar energy to provide a significant portion of residential power needs
Centrosolar Receives Award for Energy Management System
23 August 2012POSTED IN Business News
Centrosolar has been awarded the Plus X Award for the newly developed Cenpilot energy management system. This system impressed the panel in the categories of innovation, functionality and ecology.
Renewable Integration and the Benefits of Energy Storage
18 July 2012POSTED IN Guest Blogs
Among the many important topics discussed recently during the Intersolar North America conference in San Francisco, one of the more intriguing was energy storage and how technologies like advanced batteries can facilitate the increased integration of renewable generation onto the grid.
Intersolar NA 2012: Industry observations
17 July 2012POSTED IN Editors Blogs
Dropping prices, the need for storage, smarter monitoring, cutting costs, FiTs or no FiTs, the need for forecasting, varying permitting requirements, the need for more innovation. We heard all this and more last week at Intersolar North America 2012. Most importantly what we saw and heard is that the industry is becoming more realistic.
Intersolar NA 2012: Solectria Renewables announces SGI 500XT 600VDC Inverter
09 July 2012POSTED IN New Products
Solectria Renewables, LLC, a US photovoltaic (PV) inverter manufacturer, is exhibiting the SGI 500XT, a 500 kilowatt (kW), 600 volts direct current (VDC) inverter at Intersolar North America 2012 on 10-12 July at the Moscone Centre (booth 8211) in San Francisco, California, US. The SGI 500XT is a 208 volts alternating current (VAC) transformerless, direct-to-medium voltage, utility-scale inverter with high inverter efficiency.
Intersolar NA 2012: Antenna Group's Caroline Venza to moderate panels
08 July 2012POSTED IN Business News
Today, 9 July 2012, as more than 22,000 attendees from the global solar industry attend the Intersolar North America 2012 conference, which runs from 9-12 July at the Moscone Centre in San Francisco, California, US, a select group of smart-grid influencers—from commercial heavyweights to utility advisors and energy analysts—will gather for a two-part discussion. These people will discuss how the influx of solar capacity in North America is impacting transmission and distribution (T&D) in the US's electricity markets. For details of Monday's discussion "Smart Grid—Concepts, Technologies, Markets" or to attend, please visit this website.
UC Berkeley Hosts Siemens' 2012 Solar Exchange West
21 June 2012POSTED IN Applications News
The Siemens-hosted Solar Exchange West heads to the University of California at Berkeley on 1 August for a day of dialogue on the latest emerging topics, innovations and trends within the solar industry.
East Penn & Ecoult Announce Smart Grid Storage Project
15 June 2012POSTED IN Applications News
East Penn Manufacturing and its subsidiary Ecoult today announced the newest project in the US Department of Energy’s Smart Grid Storage Demonstration Program.
The PJM (Pennsylvania-Jersey-Maryland Interconnection) Regulation Services project in Lyon Station, Pennsylvania, is powered by the Deka UltraBattery technology. It will provide 3MW of continuous frequency regulation services to the grid of PJM Interconnection, the largest Regional Transmission Organization/Independent System Operator in the US. The new system will also be used for peak demand management services to the local utility, Met-Ed, a FirstEnergy Company.
Intersolar Europe 2012: IEEE continues to expand portfolio of standards for solar market
04 June 2012POSTED IN Business News
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) today announced its continued support for the evolving solar generation market. With projects that range from grid interconnection and storage to system installation and safety, IEEE delivers standards that help drive the solar market by paving the way for innovations to be more cost-effectively developed and implemented worldwide.
MENA Region to Save up to $1 billion per Year with Smart Grid
04 June 2012POSTED IN Business News
According to a study released today by Northeast Group, LLC, the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region is in the early stages of its smart grid development but stands to realize strong benefits, including minimum savings of $300 million to $1 billion per year for Gulf countries. Smart grid is an opportunity for MENA countries to incorporate their vast solar and renewable resources, manage growing demand, reduce carbon emissions and cut down on electricity system losses.
Pike Research: ‘Significant Expansion’ Opportunity for Smart-Grid Technologies
30 May 2012POSTED IN Applications News
The success record of smart grid renewables integration is a mixed bag, with European countries boldly plowing forward, while many US utilities exhibit what has been described by a former California state regulator as “electrotrophobia,” the fear of change linked to greater reliance upon intermittent renewable energy resources, according to a new report by Pike Research.
Pike Research anticipates that this situation will change over the next several years, creating a significant expansion of the market opportunity for smart grid technologies that enable the integration of renewables.
SolarBridge Technologies Secures $25 Million in Series D Funding
30 May 2012POSTED IN Business News
SolarBridge Technologies, a provider of microinverter solutions used in AC solar modules, announced it has secured $25 million in Series D funding. The company has raised more than $71 million to date.
Solar Solution: Keeping solar in sight at Washington and Lee University
27 May 2012POSTED IN Case Studies and Solar Solutions
A 118kW solar parking deck installation at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia (US) is the highly visible part of a larger install that is the largest solar PV system in the state of Virginia. Secure Futures LLC., a solar-energy developer based in Staunton, Virginia, managed the project, which totals approximately 450kW at two separate locations on the University's campus.
