Technology

US researchers have proposed the use of hydraulically fractured oil and gas wells to store renewable energy via compressed natural gas, with the levelized cost of storage potentially coming in at $70/MWh and $270/MWh. They said wells could also be used to store other renewable gases such as carbon dioxide or hydrogen in the future.

Moment Energy is one of several companies and projects supported by the ARC program, which aims to provide clean-energy storage to urban and remote diesel-dependent communities in British Columbia.

Also on the rise: Recurrent Energy sells Gaskell West solar-plus-storage projects to Matrix Renewables. Designs, control strategies for PV-integrated shading devices. EagleView high-resolution aircraft imagery-enabled platform may cut solar sales to install by two weeks. Fronius releases solar design tool. 250MW solar project planned for former West Virginia coal mine.

Photovoltaic shades in buildings offer energy efficiency and electricity generation, but an international research group says their commercial viability will depend on the control strategies used to optimize performance.

The inverter provider released a free online platform for planning, design, and sales of solar PV systems.

Also on the rise: Hot carrier solar cells could potentially breaking the Shockley-Queisser limit of silicon-based photovoltaics. Job moves at Nexamp, Algonquin Power & Utilities, and more. Photovoltaic cell harvests energy day and night. Power Factors selected to manage Vesper Energy’s development pipeline. New inverter from SMA for residential, commercial PV. Aluminum-nickel molten salt battery for seasonal renewables storage. Nautilus completes 24.9MW community solar portfolio in New York.

Up to 50% of the energy absorbed by a solar cell is lost as heat. Scientists are now developing a third generation of “hot carrier” solar cells that take advantage of this heat, potentially breaking the Shockley-Queisser limit of silicon-based PV.

Stanford researchers develop a device that harvests energy from the temperature difference between the PV cell and the air.

US scientists have developed a battery that can retain 92% of its initial capacity over periods of 12 weeks, with a theoretical energy density of 260 W/hour per kg. It was built with an aluminum anode and a nickel cathode, immersed in molten-salt electrolyte.

SMA is offering a new line of four inverters with power ratings of 12kW, 15kW, 20kW and 25kW, for use in rooftop PV systems up to 135kW in size. It claims the inverters provide grid-compliant power control of entire systems and enable over-dimensioning of PV arrays by up to 150%.