News

It’s not the next lithium-ion battery breakthrough that’s going to accelerate the energy storage industry. It’s not the next inflated promise from a flow battery startup, compressed-air scheme, solid-state battery research project or energy storage dream funded by Bill Gates.

The panels are equipped with glass-glass or glass-backsheet frames. Both offer a reported 21% efficiency. Trina plans to have a combined 5 GW of annual production capacity for the products this year.

PV InfoLink sees some multi-silicon module pricing increases, Array Technologies’ new clip lets First Solar install a module every 11 seconds and DNV GL has launched a global solar production projection tool. Send your hardware and services to USA-Editors@pv-magazine.com

Three more PV manufacturers are announcing plans to invest in an expansion of production capacities — as the industry appears to make light of coronavirus fears.

The nation’s largest residential solar company installed 117 MW in Q4, reaching a total customer base of 285,000, all while bringing creation costs lower than they have ever been.

Zinc8 revealed some of the details of its long-term energy storage product, including its pricing structure and the science that makes its technology possible.

“Brand is powerful — after a house and a car, a PV/storage system worth tens of thousands of dollars is one of the larger purchases a family will make.”

Some former surface coal mines in central Appalachia could be repurposed for solar development. The Nature Conservancy, a global land conservancy with $1 billion in annual revenues, is exploring the options.

Also in the morning brief: Arizona mandatory solar panel recycling bill, Sumitomo invests $46 million in long-term energy storage from Highview Power, and more.

The sector continues to grow rapidly — but delays in manufacturing scale-ups, difficulties sourcing raw materials and a separate path taken by the EV industry could all chuck ‘sand in the gears’, according to analyst Wood Mackenzie.