WASHINGTON — The Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) today announced $37 million in funding for 16 innovative new projects as part of a new ARPA-E program: Integration and Optimization of Novel Ion-Conducting Solids (IONICS). IONICS project teams are paving the way for technologies that overcome the limitations of current battery and fuel cell products.

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With the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s announcement this month that, in no uncertain terms, climate change played a pivotal role in Louisiana’s unprecedented rainfall and catastrophic flooding, it’s clear that, as a nation, we must take notice. Our coastal communities, from California to New York, are in increasing danger and these “historic” moments will soon become the norm if we are not careful.

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If electric-car maker Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) has its way, there will be a day when it is just as much of an energy company as it is an automaker. Its 2014 introduction of energy storage products for residential and commercial customers and its construction of the world’s largest battery factory highlight its bet on an energy-storage dependent electric future. To this end, the company has dropped Motors from about every reference to the company except its official publicly traded name, now going by “Tesla” instead.

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AES Energy Storage and RES are the leading utility-scale energy storage systems integrators in terms of strategy and execution, according to Navigant Research.

“AES Energy Storage and RES serve primarily as full project developers that also have in-house systems integration and software and controls expertise, which is a model Navigant Research believes offers great scalability,” Navigant‘s report reads.

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Fewer than four months ago, the still-emerging energy storage industry faced a big challenge.

With the Aliso Canyon natural gas field essentially out of commission after a massive leak, the California Public Utilities Commission called on Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric to come up with storage solutions to help ward off the risk of power outages for the upcoming winter.

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We’ve said it here, and it’s been said elsewhere: lithium-ion batteries just don’t pencil out for backup power. The incumbent technologies, like diesel generators and lead-acid batteries, have a big lead in affordability for essentially the same service.

It was surprising, then, to hear Greg Smith, the senior technical trainer for battery-maker Sonnen, tell a crowd at Solar Power International that “the overwhelming portion of the systems we sell is for backup.”

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Fewer than four months ago, the still-emerging energy storage industry faced a big challenge.

With the Aliso Canyon natural gas field in Los Angeles essentially out of commission after a massive leak, the California Public Utilities Commission called on San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison to come up with storage solutions to help ward off the risk of power outages for the upcoming winter.

The two investor-owned utilities did not have to come up with a specific amount of storage but they were under a major time constraint: SCE had to find the sources by the end of the calendar year while SDG&E was given roughly the same target deadline.

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Powin Energy, a manufacturer and developer of scalable energy storage systems for commercial and utility customers, has been chosen by Southern California Edison to build a 2 MW/8 MWh energy storage system in Irvine, Calif.

According to Powin, the selection is a result of the California Public Utilities Commission’s Aliso Canyon Energy Storage request for energy storage projects that could be operational by the beginning of 2017.

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WASHINGTON — The Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) today announced $37 million in funding for 16 innovative new projects as part of a new ARPA-E program: Integration and Optimization of Novel Ion-Conducting Solids (IONICS). IONICS project teams are paving the way for technologies that overcome the limitations of current battery and fuel cell products.

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It wasn’t all that long ago that there was no mid-tier market for solar energy-energy storage. That’s changed pretty radically in a short span of time as a result of efforts by pioneering startup and government support for development of low or emissions-free energy generation and grid modernization.

Sharp Electronics Corp.’s Energy Systems and Services Group (ES&S) on Sept. 8 announced it is allocating $25 million to finance commercial & industrial (C&I) projects that combine solar PV systems with its ¨behind the meter¨ SmartStorage energy storage system.

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