Batteries with Chinese characteristics
At present, China accounts for almost 75% of global lithium-ion battery manufacturing capacity and this share is set to increase through the short term with its build-out of new facilities. And although the US and Europe are enacting policies to encourage domestic battery production, there has been a distinct lack of support for investment in the supply and refining of the raw materials to achieve this. In China, the opposite holds true.
What role will battery storage have in Biden’s America?
Chip Breitenkamp, of Nanograf, discusses American battery manufacturing, how to ensure a resilient and equitable supply chain, and how to create jobs.
Tesla sharpens focus on solar
In an earnings call this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk boldly claimed that the company will soon be “the market leader in solar.”
Boeing brings more PV power to NASA International Space Station
Six new arrays with a combined capacity of 120 kW will be installed on the International Space Station starting from this year. The panels will be brought to the station with the SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft during three resupply missions. The installation of each solar array will require two spacewalks.
Biden recommits U.S. to Paris climate accord, blocks Keystone pipeline
One environmental group said the new president’s actions make “the United States once more part of the global climate solution—not the problem.”
Biden’s Senate majority doesn’t just super-charge US climate action, it blazes a trail for Australia
An aggressive US climate policy rollout could provide a much needed dose of reality to the climate discourse in Canberra. It may also prompt Australia’s major parties to acknowledge the inevitability of a transition to a zero carbon economy.
Tesla launches solar inverter
The EV manufacturer with big solar ambitions has finally leveraged its expertise in power electronics technology and launched a solar inverter.
Top Gun is one of 4 dozen US large-scale BESS projects set for service in 2021
Nearly 1.4 GW of battery energy storage capacity is under construction and slated for delivery in the United States during 2021, according to data from FERC and DOE.
United States’ DOE offers an energy storage strategy, publishes detailed technology cost estimates
The strategy includes accelerating the transition of technologies from the lab to the marketplace, focusing on ways to manufacture technologies at scale in the United States and ensuring secure supply chains to enable domestic manufacturing.
The future of power electronics is distributed, aggregated and service oriented
IHS Markit released a white paper in which the analyst outfit shared some predictions for the power electronics market. First and foremost, inverters will become smarter, and after some power outages in key markets, these devices are gearing up to take on more grid stabilising tasks, which hitherto had been reserved for synchronous generators.
