Distributed Storage

The first installations featuring the Tesla Powerwall 3 are currently being completed in the United States, with the company promoting a fully integrated solar-plus-storage and electric vehicle (EV) residential system, with big backup power capacity. While the first Powerwall created a new market segment, the latest iteration enters a marketplace in oversupply.

Battery technology company Lithium Australia’s 100%-owned subsidiary Envirostream is seeking to scale up its battery recycling efforts, signing an updated agreement with South Korean manufacturer LG Energy Solution in a move that could deliver 770 tonnes of lithium-ion batteries for recycling.

Australian electric vehicles could earn up to $12,000 in a single year using vehicle-to-grid technology to provide frequency regulation services to the National Electricity Market according to a report published by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

Energizer Solar, the licensee for US battery giant Energizer, has selected Australia as the first market to launch its renewable home ‘ecosystem.’ Including new hybrid inverters, a hybrid battery, solar panels, and soon an EV charger, the product suite has been certified and is landing on Australian shores “as we speak,” Gavin Owen, Energizer Solar’s Head of APAC Sales, told pv magazine Australia.

The Northern Territory has emerged as the national leader in solar battery adoption with more than 30% of homes and businesses with rooftop solar systems having now installed a battery.

Investigators from Fire and Rescue New South Wales have determined a compromised lithium-ion battery was the cause of a housefire north of Sydney last week where two people died.

The first of energy storage solutions specialist Chelion’s new iHome high-voltage residential battery storage systems are now being rolled out in Australia.

The Clean Energy Council (CEC) has called for the federal government to introduce a subsidy program to support residential battery uptake. The CEC says a so-called Home Battery Saver Program would be “the missing piece of the [policy] puzzle.”

Queensland-based battery company Redflow has secured up to $1.12 million in government funding to support the development of a large-scale zinc-bromine flow battery prototype and to examine the potential to establish a large-scale battery manufacturing facility in the state.

German solar technology developer and retailer 1komma5° has continued to strengthen its presence in the Australian market with the acquisition of Queensland-based Arkana Energy Group.