Japan

Venture capital is still flowing to energy storage startups and the march to improve a wide variety of battery chemistries continues.

The latest edition of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report reiterates that clean power is taking the lead in the world’s energy system and nuclear is not only too costly a remedy for carbon emissions but too slow to deploy.

Japan’s JGC Corporation reports an efficient method of converting hydrogen to ammonia, which can later be combusted to generate carbon-free electricity. Ammonia, according to JGC, has various advantages over hydrogen in terms of safety and cost effectiveness.

In this op-ed StoreDot Founder and CEO Dr. Doron Myersdorf discusses the current battery manufacturing landscape, the next steps the industry could take, and the potential behind new technologies.

A report by Technavio suggests the global market for battery materials could grow 9% annually for the next four years. Analysts point to the increasing installation of storage systems with PV as a key driver. pv magazine has covered previous reports predicting significant growth in PV and storage systems.

Tesla’s batteries may soon be Made in China. The announcement was made by Panasonic CEO Kazuhiro Tsuga during a conference accompanying the company’s 2018 fiscal-year results.

Technology multinational Apple Inc. has announced that its global operations are now 100% powered by clean energy. Additionally, another nine of Apple’s manufacturing partners have committed to powering their production with 100% clean energy, meaning a total of 23 suppliers have now made this commitment.

Korea is making good on an earlier promise, and now Japan has joined in. Both nations demand that the Trump Administration reverse the tariffs, or suffer an equivalent volume of retaliatory tariffs.

GA Global Partners is auctioning off the 130,000 square foot facility.

The U.S. development division of the Japanese thin film PV maker has now developed and sold six utility-scale solar projects totaling 173 MW.