Andy Colthorpe

Manufacturers and distributors are offering many different forms of training in energy storage installation for residential and small commercial level all over the country. Just taking a quick look at what’s available, names as diverse and well known as inverter makers SMA and Solax, domestic storage manufacturer and energy management specialist Wattstor, distributors like Krannich, Waxman and Wind & Sun have all been offering or will offer dedicated training events in battery storage installation this year.

The UK looks set for the arrival of energy storage in a big way this year. While high profile entrants such as Tesla are generating headlines, several energy storage systems have been deployed already on a commercial basis using a novel storage technology – the saltwater battery.

Martin Cotterell founded his solar installation company, Sundog Energy, in 1995. A veteran of the industry who likely requires little introduction, he has worked with groups including Greenpeace and the British Antarctic Survey and played a key role in creating a 2012 guide to PV system installation used by UK accreditation service MCS.

The UK government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is seeking answers from the energy storage industry on how best to define and consider the various technologies, both behind and in front of the meter.

Although Britain’s government has cut support for renewable energy severely in the past few months, controversially claiming a need to balance the transition away from fossil fuels against the cost to consumers, energy storage might face less of a challenge at the top level, according to speakers at a conference in London.

A team of teachers volunteering to educate refugees and displaced peoples among the camps of Calais in northern France, will power a mobile school with a solar-plus-storage system.

Distribution network operator Western Power Distribution has signed a contract with Renewable Energy Systems (RES) to deliver an energy storage system co-located with large-scale solar, which will be used to develop ways to commercialise services to the grid.

Wattstor, which makes its own battery-based domestic and commercial energy storage systems for the UK, is offering free training sessions for installers around the country, starting this week.

The Renewable Energy Association has slammed the results of an auction held to ensure the country has enough available capacity to avoid blackouts, with 153MW of energy storage bidding unsuccessfully in the tender.

An energy storage system based on the Aquion non-toxic ‘saltwater’ battery has been installed on a private estate in Northern Ireland, in what is believed to be the UK debut for the much-talked about technology.