It’s been a big week for Greentech Media -- so what’s been going on in grid edge news? Last week, Hawaii regulators rejected NextEra’s $4.3 billion takeover of HECO, a decision that won’t change the challenges the state faces in building a grid system that can support its 100 percent renewables goal. In Australia, the promise of energy storage to support the continent’s rapid solar growth received a positive review from PA Consulting, but another industry observer claimed that residential batteries don’t make financial sense – an issue of great importance to microinverter Enphase, which has raised a $25 million “rescue financing” loan that will put the company’s energy storage ambitions to the test. Meanwhile, GTM Research has identified five states besides California and Hawaii where commercial energy storage can make financial sense today. Smart inverters alongside batteries can be another valuable tool for integrating distributed solar with grid operations, as a PG&E pilot project featuring SolarCity and Enphase is seeking to prove. And volt-VAR optimization technology vendor DVI’s win of a patent lawsuit will put it in a good position to move ahead on its next steps to integrate smart inverters and storage into its plans.
Yours,
Jeff St. John, Reporter, Greentech Media
Have a news tip for us? Email the GTM Editorial Team at editors@greentechmedia.com or contact me directly at stjohn@greentechmedia.com. |
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