The UK-based energy storage project developer Camborne Energy Storage is the first company in Europe to install a grid-scale Tesla Powerpack system, following a recent installation in Somerset (England), according to an email sent to CleanTechnica.

The new Tesla Powerpack energy storage installation is an accompaniment to a ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) project that’s already located at the site. The new solar PV + battery storage installation reportedly has “the capacity to provide power for over 500 homes.” (This is perhaps not the most useful way of explaining the size of the installation, as some commentators here often point out, but it is important for those who aren’t familiar with industry terminology.)

The installation choice was the result of Camborne execs wanting to demonstrate the ability to contribute to the creation/maintenance of a balanced grid — and, thus, to help pave the way for the firm’s growth ambitions in that area (co-located generation + energy storage systems) in the UK.

The Managing Director of Camborne, Dan Taylor, commented: “the development of Tesla’s first European grid-tied system is an exciting step forward for Camborne and Tesla in terms of our respective storage strategies. This project is another success for storage development in the UK and being co-located with a renewable generation site, should offer significant benefits to all stakeholders.”

Camborne currently has over 100 megawatt-hours (MWh) worth of energy storage projects in planning in the UK.

The new Tesla Powerpack energy storage system located at the Somerset solar PV project was installed by EPC Poweri Services.

More information on Camborne can be found on the company’s website.

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Bloomberg New Energy Finance has released a new report about the used-EV-battery landscape, and it’s intriguing, because of the opportunities and also because of its divergence from Tesla’s point of view.

One particular prediction is that, in 2025, there will be 29 GWh of used batteries from EVs available, and that about 10 GWh could be utilized for stationary storage. Tesla CTO JB Straubel, on the other hand, has stated that using used EV batteries for stationary storage doesn’t pencil out in as good a way as you’d presume, and he doesn’t see a future for this market (at least, for Tesla’s batteries).

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The US company Axiom Exergy has been wasting no time getting its new thermal energy storage technology to the marketplace. Just 18 months after nailing a glowing review from the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Axiom has inked a major deal with the New York City utility Con Edison to supply its “Refrigeration Battery” to grocery stores all over Brooklyn and Queens.

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Poised for massive expansion, the global solar photovoltaics market is ramping up and excitement is sparking. Cost reductions, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), are driving huge increases in solar PV investments.

As solar is outgrowing traditional feed-in tariff structures, new grid connection strategies are starting to generate major-league attention throughout the market. The face of renewable energy is really starting to shine.

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The global energy storage market is expected to double in 2016, growing from 1.4 GWh to 2.9 GWh by the end of the year, before continuing to skyrocket, reaching 21 GWh by 2025.

These are the latest figures from a new report published by information and analysis company IHS Markit, released this week, which investigates the global energy storage market. The authors of the report also concluded that Lithium-ion batteries will become the mainstream energy storage technology, and will account for 80% of all global energy storage installations by 2025.

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Shortly after announcing a new residential energy storage product, Sonnen did it again with a commercial one — the sonnenBatterie pro. The system ranges from 18 kW / 24 kWh up to 90 kW / 240 kWh. It employs Ideal Power’s 30 kW Power Conversion System. An Ideal Power inverter is included, as is energy management. Hotels, restaurants, and office buildings are referenced on the Sonnen site as suitable places where the system would be effective. Peak shaving and integration with solar power are two of the main benefits.

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Sonnen recently announced a new residential energy storage product called the eco compact. The company said the price is up to 40% less than its other energy storage products. The cost is $5,950 for the 4 kWh system, which does not include installation, but does include an inverter, a smart energy manager, and measurement technology. The system can be expanded up to 16 kWh, in 4 kWh increments. The battery is guaranteed for 10,000 cycles, or 10 years. The system has been designed to work well with home solar power systems for self-consumption.

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The Solar Foundation recently released a paper at Intersolar North America about how the growth of energy storage could impact solar jobs in the United States. One figure within the paper which particularly jumps out is the estimate that by 2021, there could be 27,000 jobs related to solar and energy storage. This number includes 9,000 energy storage jobs linked with solar, and about 18,000 solar jobs which would not be available without the presence of energy storage.

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One Maritime Plaza, an office tower in San Francisco’s Financial District, will have a 500 kilowatt/1,000 kilowatt-hour Advanced Microgrid Solutions energy storage system installed. Tesla Powerpack batteries will be used in the system. The building has 25 floors of office space and is 398 feet tall; its owner is Morgan Stanley Real Estate. (Advanced Microgrid Solutions is located in San Francisco, not too far from the Financial District.)

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The economics behind commercial energy storage options are growing in popularity, according to new figures from GTM Research, and are set to be increasingly attractive in the coming years.

A new report from GTM Research, The Economics of Commercial Energy Storage in the US, analyzed rate structure across 51 utilities across the United States, assessing the opportunity for demand charge management for commercial storage customers. Demand charge management is the use of batteries to charge on electricity during low-demand, and therefore low-price periods, so that consumers can discharge the battery, or use its contents, in high-demand, high-cost periods.

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