Energy Storage

Articles related to Energy Storage

August 9, 2024

India’s Green Energy Surge: Top Trends in 2024

India is rapidly transitioning to a greener future, with renewable energy playing a pivotal role. The year 2024 has witnessed a significant acceleration in this journey. […]
June 5, 2023

Pumped Hydro Storage: The Next Big Thing in India's Energy Storage Market?

India’s power grid is facing increasing challenges due to the growing penetration of renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power. These sources are intermittent, […]
May 8, 2023

Energy Storage Stocks to Buy in India

Energy storage has emerged as an exponential growth industry due to a rise in the renewable energy and electric vehicle industry in India. Energy storage is […]
June 25, 2019

How Renewable Energy Sources Can Compete with Fossil Fuels

Renewable energy was once at a disadvantage against fossil fuels since it was held back by high prices. However, innovation has reduced the cost of renewable […]
September 23, 2016

Solar+Storage Innovations around the world – SolPad

SolPad by SunCulture With the solar panel today reaching historically low levels, it does not take an Einstein to forecast the future of solar. The world […]
May 24, 2016

Total makes a big bang Energy Storage acquisition to bolster its Sunpower Acquisition

Total to acquire Saft While most large oil and gas majors such as BP and Shell have abandoned their solar energy plans, French giant Total has […]
July 3, 2013

Solarcity to collaborate with Tesla on Lithium battery storage for its Solar Panel Systems

Solarcity collaboration with Tesla Motors Solarcity (SCTY) which has seen its stock price rocket up in recent times is exploring the option to sell energy storage […]
October 10, 2012

Indian State plans to Double Pumped Hydro Storage Capacity to 2000 MW

While Energy Storage using Lithium Batteries and other innovative concepts like Flywheels frequently make news, the largest sources of Energy Storage like Lead Acid batteries and […]
July 17, 2012

Green Industry in Upheaval – Yet another Energy Storage Company goes Kaput

Bankrupt Green Energy Companies These days the only thing you hear about in the Green Industry is Bankruptcy or companies on the verge of insolvency. The […]
June 21, 2012

Japanese Solar Panels – Comprehensive Guide to Manufacturers, Cost, Efficiency &Technology

Updated: 7/06/2016 Japanese Solar Panel companies Sharp, Kyocera, Panasonic-Sanyo, Mitsubishi were the top solar panel producers in the world. Solar Energy in Japan has a long […]
February 14, 2012

Why Energy Storage will be the Biggest Gainer from Solar Grid Parity

Solar Prices have now reached grid parity in various places in the world without a lot of people realizing it. In countries like Brazil and Italy, Solar Energy Electricity price is already lower than the Retail Price of Electricity. So it is on most islands in the world like i,Caribbean and elsewhere. These islands which are mostly powered by dirty diesel generators are seeing rapid deployments of solar power. In fact Hawaii is already getting saturated with solar . However the Achilles heed of Solar Energy that is the lack of continuous power is starting to bite.
July 7, 2011

BYD Solar Panels (240w) Review and Comparison of Efficiency plus Specifications

BYD is China’s biggest producer of Electric Vehicles and Lithium Ion batteries.The Company was made famous when Warren Buffet bought a 10% stake in the company,one of his biggest Foreign Investments.China has become the dominant leader in Solar Manufacturing from being an nobody in a short span of 5 years.Chinese producers are going to produce about 60% of the global supply this year led by companies like Solarfun,Trina Solar,Yingli Green and Suntech.BYD too has decided to throw its hat into the ring with a big bang investment.There remain little details about the $3.3 Billion Solar Investment over 5 years for which it has already gotten the financing.The company is planning to spend 22.5 Billion Yuan on Solar Energy over the next 5 years for which it has already secured financing.The company has started a 100 MW cell plant in the Shaanxi province and plans to expand to 5000 MW by 2015.BYD signed a $300 million polysilicon supply contract with LDK Solar (another Chinese solar producer).This is a huge supply contract considering the 2 year time frame.Though wafer and polysilicon prices have recently become slightly constrained recently,there is no scope for the massive shortages seen in 2008.
July 5, 2011

Samsung Solar Panels Review of Prices of PV Cells Module (UK,Ontario)

Samsung had decided a couple of years ago that it wants to be a major player in the Green Industry and has lined up billions of dollars to invest in solar and wind energy over the next decade.The company is already starting up massive solar panel plants and wind turbine factories as it hopes to capture a large chunk of the clean technology industry.Samsung is a global leader in the Semiconductor area which it is trying to reinforce by huge capital expenditure.Samsung has strong expertise in the areas of LCD and Memory manufacturing and technology, which it can easily leverage to develop Solar Thin Film technology.However,Samsung is focusing its efforts on high efficiency Crystalline Solar Technology.It recently announced a big investment commitment to Ontario in offshore wind and solar manufacturing and generation.The company wants to rival conglomerates like GE and Siemens which already have a large presence in wind,solar and smart grid technologies
July 5, 2011

Uses of Solar Energy – Applications,Future Uses,Countries and Why We should Use Solar Power

Solar energy usage is an excellent, eco-friendly and cost-effective way to "Go Green". It is a very effective measure to save energy & money. We use the solar energy every day in many different ways.Solar Energy is indirectly responsible for other forms of Energy that we use as well like Coal,Oil,Gas,Hydro Energy etc.The biggest use of Solar Energy is in Agriculture where Sun Light is used by plants to grow and provide food for us.Solar Energy despite many years of development is not used in the generation of Electricity due to its higher costs.However that is going to change as Solar Energy is the only form of Energy whose costs are continuously declining compared to other forms of Energy.This is one of the biggest advantages of Solar Power over other renewable and non-renewable forms of energy.Solar Energy forms just 0.1% of the the total energy supply of the planet currently and analysts and decision makers don’t think that Solar Energy can form a big chunk in the future as well.However I differ strongly in that aspect.The main reason for my very bullish opinion on Solar Energy is based on the simple fact that Solar Energy is the only form of Energy whose costs are declining rapidly on a secular basis.In a world facing the prospects of “peak commodity”,solar energy remains vastly abundant and it remains upto human technology to capture it at the lowest costs
July 4, 2011

Sharp PV Panels Review of Wholesale Sale Prices,Quality,Warranty of Solar Modules

Sharp,the Japanese Zaibatsu known more for its Electronics Products is also the world’s No 1 Company in terms Solar Module Revenues.Sharp has been the solar world leader since the past 4-5 years despite stiff competition recently from upcoming Chinese Crystalline Solar (c-Si) players and Thin Film Leader First SolarSharp’s c-Si division is not cost competitive with the Chinese and Taiwanese companies as its cost structure is almost 30-40% higher than the cheapest Chinese producers.Though the quality of Sharp’s crystalline silicon modules is considered much better,the cost difference has become too big in a rapidly commoditizing industry.While companies like Masdar are abandoning their Thin Film plans,Sharp has started shipping a-Si modules from its 1 GW capacity plant in Sakai.With its established distribution strengths and technological abilities in LCD Technology,Sharp is one company that can survive the c-Si onslaught.
March 8, 2011

Japan Solar Energy – Future Growth driven by METI and 7 Zaibatsus (Sharp,Panasonic,Mitsubishi,Honda,Mitsui,Toshiba,Kyocera)

Solar Energy in Japan has a long future dating back to 1994 when the government introduced capital subsidies to boost solar energy installations on rooftops.Till 2004,Japan was the largest solar market in the world after which it was overtaken by Germany.After 2004,the growth in the solar industry tapered off as the government reduced the subsidies for solar panels to almost zero.The huge domestic market gave rise to Japanese companies like Sharp,Mitsubishi,Kyocera,Panasonic-Sanyo become top solar panel producers in the world.However the low cost Chinese solar module producers have pushed back most of the Japanese companies.Since the last year,the Japanese government has again started giving generous solar subsidies and feed in tariff to boost the renewable energy production in the country which remains far off targets.This has led Japan to become the top non-European market after USA and the growth seems set to continue in the future as well.Japan has relatively low installations costs and is much nearer to grid parity.Also lack of wind energy makes solar energy more attractive as a renewable energy choice.While large scale solar installations in Japan are almsot absent,there remain large numbers of rooftop solar installations.
March 3, 2011

Advantages of Solar Energy – Declining Cost the Biggest One

Solar Energy is the only form of Energy whose costs are continuously declining compared to other forms of Energy.This is one of the biggest advantages of Solar Power over other renewable and non-renewable forms of energy.Solar Energy costs have declined by over 50% in the last 2-3 years even as Coal,Oil,Gas and other Energy costs have gone up.While Wind Energy costs have declined in the last year the overall trend is increasing as the costs of copper and steel go up.This is one of the main reasons why solar energy demand has gone up by 150% in 2010.With solar costs going down by another 10% each year over the next few years,expect Solar Energy to grow at a further fast rate in the future as well after growing at 50% CAGR over the last decade.Here are some of the advantages of Solar Energy over other non-renewable energy forms
March 1, 2011

Electic Vehicles in India get boost through duty cut,however no Support for Public Transport or Oil Bill Reduction

India's Transport Policy is an unmitigated disaster with traffic congestion frequently killing people.The lack of roads and traffic planning has made transport in Indian cities a daily monstrous headache for commuters.The use of modern transport which does not cause pollution and reduces congestion is the need of the hour.The government seems to be moving slowly in that direction.While MNRE had announced a capital subsidy for Green Transport earlier,the Finance Minister cut excise and custom duties on Green Vehicles as well.India's Union Budget did not have much for the Green Industry except a piffling Rs 200 crore fund for the environment and the cuts of duties for EVs.
November 29, 2010

Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor to see Development of 24 Green Cities

The Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) which is being jointly developed by India and Japan will also see the development of 24 Green Cities.The ambitious infrastructure project being built with $50-90 Billion will see a freight/railway/road transport corridor between India's 2 most important cities of Delhi and Mumbai.The resulting development along this transport corridor which will be passing through 6 states will make use of Green Technologies.Japanese Conglomerates like Hitachi,Toshiba,Mitsubishi will be involved in the building of this massive projects and will use their advanced energy efficient technologies to develop these Green Cities.
November 29, 2010

Toshiba Leads Japanese Search for Rare Earth in Mongolia,Kazakhstan and Uranium Processing

Toshiba,the Japanese Conglomerate with diversified interests in Electronics,Nuclear Energy Equipment,NAND Memory is leading the Japanese Search for Rare Earth Minerals.Fears of Chinese monopoly over production of REE came true,when Exports to Japan were blocked over a shipping incident.EU and USA have long been concerned with the Chinese control of 95% of the global REE production with USA even thinking of taking China to the WTO.Japan has recently drastically increased its investment into finding new sources of Rare Earth with recent deals with Vietnam,India,Kazakhstan and others.Sojitz, a Trading Zaibatsu recently signed a long term supply deal with Lynas.Toshiba is the other Japanese firm actively scouting for Rare Earth Minerals looking for newer processes and geographies.
September 19, 2010

Green Investing Weekly 4 – Top Reads from the Web

Renewable Energy SMA Solar raises revenue guidance a second time: expects PV market to top 17GW in 2010 – PV-Tech Gigawatt scale: CEC approves Solar Millennium’s […]
September 17, 2010

Should you invest in BYD – Strategy Skepticism vs China's Green Ambitions

BYD has fallen almost 35% this year heavily underperforming the market as sales growth has slowed substantially.After a 140% growth in Auto Sales last year,this year the sales growth will go down to 30% as the company has reduced sales target to 600,000 from 800,000 earlier.Chinese auto sales have fallen and BYD has been specially affected with its workhorse F3 Model declining in popularity.The company delivered a good first half with $100 million in 2Q profits.However the company is still quite expensive at $15 Billion Market Cap which would give it a P/E of around 38x.Also the company's strategy to enter solar energy does not make sense.However BYD is a good story for the future.China has made a new Green Policy to create National Champions in the EV and Battery Industry.BYD is a perfect candidate with its strengths in both areas.While its execution in the EV sector is yet to give results,it is already planning into the future getting into the Grid Storage Sectors.I would not put money presently but would wait for a better entry point in the future.
September 15, 2010

Sumitomo Green Strategy is quite Unconventional with Battery Recycling,Carbon Trading and Geothermal Energy ventures

Sumitomo entered the Wind Energy Business in the US by buying a 42.5% stake in Stanton 120 MW Wind Farm in Texas.The Company already has Wind Assets in Japan and is partnering with Giant Chinese Utility Datang for building Renewable Energy Assets in China.Sumitomo has already built a 50 MW Wind Farm in Inner Mongolia with Datang and Kyushu Electric.Sumitomo is already strong in constructing geothermal plants having built a 140 MW Nga Awa Purua Geothermal Plant in New Zealand in 2 years flat.It also has contracts to build upto 530 MW of Geothermal Plants in Indonesia.In Phillipines the Company has partnered with another Japanese Trading Powerhouse Marubeni to finance Biomass and Waste to Energy Plants.However Solar Energy is strangely missing from Sumitomo's strategy.It activity till now has been restricted to some small PV plants in Spain and trading of Solar Panels made by Sharp and others.Note other Global Conglomerates like ABB,GE,Siemens,LG,Samsung are in the process of making massive investments into the Green Industry.
August 19, 2010

Unique Electricity Transmission Mega Hub Tres Amigas to Facilitate Green Energy through Creation of US Super Grid

The Tres Amigas Facility will be the first of its kind in the world and would be profitable allowing sale of power between the Three Grids.This unique initiative has received support from numerous stakeholders like utilities,transmission operators,Green Energy Suppliers etc.Extreme Power has been selected to provide Energy Storage Facilities and Energy Management Technology for this project.If this project gets built it will lead to the building of similar such facilities in the rest of the world and be a big boon in the quest of Mass Adoption of Green Energy.Note this Project seems to deserves a DOE Grant much more than the Billion Dollar Loans to Abengoa and Solyndra.
July 20, 2010

Green Investing – ABB increasing its marketshare in the Global Smart Grid and Renewable Energy Industry

ABB, the European Giant which was formed by merger of Asea and Brown Boveri in 1989 is increasing its lead in the Smart Grid Industry.The company […]
July 3, 2010

Itochu and Toshiba increase their Green Investments through multiple Joint Ventures

Toshiba,the leading Japanese Electronics Producer  is diversifying into the Green Industry like its counterparts in the rest of the world.Samsung,NEC,Panasonic,LG,GE and Siemens have all been strongly […]
June 20, 2010

EU warns of shortage of of rare earth minerals even as China tightens control

China is planning to increase control of rare earth minerals mined in its territory after cracking down on illegal exports of these minerals.These minerals form an […]
June 11, 2010

Green Investing in Japan – Panasonic Discovers a Green Goldmine in Sanyo Acquistion

Panasonic hits upon a Green Goldmine in Sanyo Panasonic has hit upon a Green Goldmine with its acquisition of Sanyo .It is now capitalizing on  Sanyo’s […]
May 22, 2010

Reality Check for US Commerce Secretary – USA is already far behind China in Clean Energy

The United States could fall behind China and other countries in clean energy technology unless Congress passes energy legislation, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said on […]
May 20, 2010

Another Japanese Zaibatsu NEC Plans a Major Foray in the Green Industry

Conglomerates across the world have started signaling their attention to become big players in the Green Industry which is predicted to be one of the biggest […]