Sector news – Gommyr Power Networks

Tesla’s Powerwall announcement – the benefits and limitations for…

May 5, 2015March 24, 2020

Although widely expected for several months, Tesla’s launch of the PowerWall, a lithium ion battery based home energy storage system, has generated a huge amount of publicity and discussion in the media and in the power industry. Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, presented the PowerWall as a key component for enabling greater use of locally generated solar power, allowing homes to go off-grid, as well as a solution to electrify regions in emerging markets with no or limited grid access.… Read more

Another corporate alliance to target microgrids and distributed renewable…

May 4, 2015March 24, 2020

Caterpillar, a global leader in diesel gensets and construction equipment, has announced a strategic alliance with First Solar, a leading global manufacturer of thin-film solar panels, to provide an integrated microgrid offering. Leveraging Caterpillar’s experience in distributed power and global dealership network, this alliance will position itself for growth in renewable microgrids with a likely focus on displacing diesel generation with solar generation.… Read more

Another step towards an integrated home energy offering –…

April 14, 2015April 2, 2020

SolarCity has just announced another important collaboration in the home energy space – this time Nest Labs – this time offering a Nest thermostat for 10,000 new customers at no additional cost. Importantly, the announcement indicates that a common technology framework or platform is emerging that will integrate and address both home energy management as well as home solar generation. Such… Read more

ABB and Samsung SDI forge alliance to target global…

March 27, 2015April 2, 2020

Global power sector giants ABB and Samsung SDI have just announced their global alliance to tackle the fast growing microgrid market. ABB is a leader in grid, power and automation technologies and Samsung SDI is the largest lithium ion battery manufacturer. The pair signed a memorandum of understanding outlining their cooperation in growing microgrids around the world. The two companies have clearly complementary technological expertise, as both storage (from Samsung SDI) and control (from ABB) technologies are critical for successful and cost-effective microgrid implementation. Although… Read more

Continuing momentum in renewable microgrids: Solarcity launches microgrid offering

March 16, 2015April 2, 2020

Solarcity, the US residential PV industry leader, is building on its distributed renewable energy experience by launching its GridLogic microgrid offering. It will be a turnkey offering integrating distributed residential and commercial solar, battery and controllable loads as well as shared solar, battery and back-up power and system control. The microgrids will be available with the pay-as-you-go model that has been so successful for residential solar deployment under the “microgrid as a service” offering. Given… Read more

Distributed Renewable Generation and Storage go mainstream

March 4, 2015March 26, 2020

The opportunities being unleashed by distributed renewable power generation and the fast growing power storage sector are grabbing the attention of mainstream media and the general public. The BBC is the latest major news outlet to cover these trends in a business article on energy storage and it’s implications for utilities, the power sector and consumers. Though there is perhaps some hype and a few extreme claims such as “the era of free electricity”, the emerging technologies and business models seem to be catching the attention of journalists, policy makers and the public. This… Read more

India to be exciting distributed renewable energy growth market

February 25, 2015March 26, 2020

It seems that India in general has become more optimistic and vibrant over the past year, and this appears to also hold true in the energy sector. The country has a massive need for energy, both to fuel growth as well as to electrify rural areas that are poorly served and account for almost half of the population.… Read more

Is Tesla a Gamechanger for Home Energy Storage (and…

February 15, 2015March 26, 2020

Energy storage has been a hot topic for the microgrid sector and indeed much of the renewable energy sector for the past couple of years. Much of the cost reduction in batteries has been driven by the growing demand from electric vehicles, a market where Tesla has been an undisputed leader. Its success has been such that last year’s announcement of its planned battery Gigafactory seemed to be a catalyst for accelerating battery price reductions as well as a marker that lithium ion battery technology had secured it place as the leading battery technology. … Read more