Energy storage is crucial for taking full advantage of solar power, which otherwise suffers interruptions from cloudy skies and nightfall. In the past few years, concentrating solar power plants have begun producing additional electricity at night and during peak demand periods by using stored heat energy to propel a steam turbine.

BERLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–HOUZE® Advanced Building Science, a global-leading smart zero energy innovation company, will introduce its ZEROCELL™ smart energy storage appliance in Euronics International stores starting in December 2016. The company made the announcement in Berlin during IFA 2016, the leading trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances.

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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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NEC Energy Solutions (NEC ES), a subsidiary of NEC Corporation, has introduced the DSS™, a new distributed energy storage platform and a significant step into the commercial and industrial (C&I) energy storage segment, enabling its partners to offer distributed energy management services. As one of the most trusted global suppliers of energy storage technology, NEC ES is offering the DSS platform with proven lithium-ion battery storage technology, power conversion, and advanced controls software in a range of flexible outdoor-rated configurations that are smaller, simpler, smarter and safer than competitive products.

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CONCORD, ON, Sept. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ – Sentinel Solar, a leading Canadian owned and operated solar products manufacturing and distribution company, will unveil its new energy storage system (ESS)–the AHI^TM Wave, at this year’s Solar Power International Conference in Las Vegas. Developed in partnership with leading global inverter and energy storage manufacturers, the Wave is a complete “plug and play” system; designed for residential use on new and existing grid interactive and off-grid energy storage applications.

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The US installed 41.2MW of energy storage capacity in the second quarter of 2016, up 126% from 18.3MW in Q1, according to the latest report from GTM Research.

However, GTM’s quarterly ‘U.S. Energy Storage Monitor’, found that deployment grew by just 1% on a year-on-year basis in Q2. GTM said this lack of growth was countered by a significant diversification of geographies and market segments for storage. However, Lithium-ion technology accounted for 99% of deployments in this period with aqueous batteries the second most used technology.

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According to the latest U.S. Energy Storage Monitor, a quarterly publication from GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association (ESA), the U.S. deployed 41.2 megawatts of energy storage in the second quarter of 2016, an increase of 126 percent over the first quarter of the year.

Year-over-year, energy storage deployments were up just 1 percent. What the market lacked in annual growth, however, it made up for in geographic and market-segment diversification.

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ALBUQUERQUE, NM–(Marketwired – Sep 6, 2016) – Sharp Electronics Corporation’s Energy Systems and Services Group (Sharp) announces the installation of itsSmartStorage® system at Roadrunner® Food Bank in a project with its channel ally and Albuquerque-based, Affordable Solar Installation, Inc. (ASI). This installation, which signals Sharp’s entry into the New Mexico market, is the state’s first commercial solar plus storage installation. The project features two Sharp 30 kW SmartStorage®systems, paired with the site’s existing 366 kW solar rooftop array. Sharp’sSmartStorage® system reduces the property’s peak demand usage.

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Canadian-based Enbridge Inc. will buy Spectra Energy Corp. (SE) in a $28 billion stock-for-stock transaction that will create the largest energy pipeline and storage company in North America, the companies said in a statement Tuesday.

Shareholders of Houston-based Spectra will get $40.33 per share, representing a premium of about 12% to the Sept. 2 closing price, according to the statement. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017, pending regulatory approval of the cross-border agreement.

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Most of the time when people talk about microgrids, they talk about reliability (e.g., for a hospital or other critical load) and renewables. When people talk about renewables, they often talk about storage (e.g., to maximize the output of a rooftop solar array). And when people talk about storage, they often refer to enhancing reliability.

Of course there’s more to microgrids, storage and renewables than this circular conversation, and the key is economics (aka, a business case).

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