This year, The Smarter E made its debut this June 20 to 22 in Munich, Germany, bringing together existing exhibitions, Intersolar Europe and ees Europe, with two new events, Power2Drive Europe and EM-Power. This change reflects both the strong shift towards storage, and the rapidly changing face of the overall energy industry. pv magazine hit the floors, attended the conferences and held two roundtables to discover the latest trends. Read on to discover our eight key takeaways (and one new buzzword).

As the federal government aims to ink a deal with the states on the National Energy Guarantee in August, it appears still to be negotiating within its own ranks. The ANU’s Mathew Stocks and Andrew Blakers crunch the numbers to assess whether coal or renewables will pay off for costs and jobs in Queensland.

The first Senec battery to be installed in an Australian home has helped the household reduce its summer power bill by 90%. The system, a 10 kWp Senec.Home battery, has helped the Spilsbury family in Perth’s western suburbs reduce its power consumption from the grid through maximizing self consumption for its 5 kW rooftop solar and by adapting consumption patterns.

Global infrastructure giant ABB is showcasing its PVS-120 sting inverters. The company claims that high power density can deliver Opex and Capex reductions for developers and EPCs.

The Terra High Power charger can charge an electric vehicle (EV) in just eight minutes, thus adding up to 200 km of range, says ABB, which launched the new model at this year’s Hannover Messe.

David Blowers, an Energy Fellow with the Grattan Institute, reports that “solid progress” has been made on the design of the National Energy Guarantee.

The German inverter maker sold 8.5 GW of solar PV inverters last year. Revenue, however, dropped by €50 million, while net profit remained flat at €30 million.

Dylan McConnell from the Australian German Climate and Energy College, at the University of Melbourne, evaluates Federal Government Minister for Urban Infrastructure and Cities Paul Fletcher’s claim that South Australians face the highest electricity charges in Australia as a result of the former Weatherill Government’s policies.

Today the Australian Energy Market Commission’s reliability panel of industry experts and consumer advocates releases its annual review of electricity market performance.

Annual solar installations grew almost 20% year over year in 2017, and the solar industry is also edging within 100 gigawatts, a milestone the industry will reach this year, according to IHS Markit, a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions.