Author: solarenergy
Downing Renewable Developments (DRD) has been given permission for a 49.9MW solar power plant in Cornwall after appealing against the council’s initial refusal.The Fair Park solar power station, with associated battery storage, will be built near Carland Cross in Cornwall. DRD, an investment manager who set up Downing LLP to build renewable energy sources on land in Britain, said the site’s 30-year operational period will allow sheep grazing and deliver a net biodiversity gain of 148%.When construction begins, a one-off community payment of £1,000/MW will be given to each local parish council to support local community projects, and DRD will…
A UAE research team developed a hybrid 1D CNN and random forest model to detect multiple faults in bifacial PV systems, including dust, shading, aging and cracking. Using simulated IV curves and a 180-day synthetic dataset, the model achieved 100% accuracy in general condition detection and 97.6% in specific fault classification. October 23, 2025 Lior Kahana A research team led by the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates has developed a new machine learning approach for fault detection in bifacial PV systems. The method combines a one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN) with the Random Forest (RF) learning method…
The NIMBY arguments against solar and storage range from the insane (solar panels suck up all the sun’s energy!) to the indisputable (projects are changing rural landscapes). Regardless of opinion, the solar and storage developer’s priority is to hear community concerns and find solutions. One obvious concern that community members may have with large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS), especially as more and more are installed in urban areas, is their noise levels. Residents will continue to live and work near these systems long after the developer has moved to the next location. It’s a valid concern, says Thomas Corbishley,…
The Taiwanese government has unveiled plans to update environmental impact assessment (EIA) standards for solar projects, following storm-related damage to facilities and growing public concern over the deployment of floating PV systems. October 22, 2025 Brian Public Taiwan’s Ministry of Environment (MoE) said it will revise its EIA standards for PV projects, following public scrutiny of floating solar development and online claims that countries such as Singapore, Indonesia and South Korea already require environmental assessments before building such projects. In July, Typhoon Danas damaged floating solar power installations in southern Taiwan, fueling public concerns about environmental risks and regulatory gaps.…
Two large-scale battery energy storage systems providing a total of 20 MW of power and 80 MWh of storage are now online along the eastern coast of Virginia. Funded by Climate First Bank and developed by Patterson Enterprises in partnership with battery manufacturer Great Power, the investment will increase the resilience of the region’s electricity grid and community sustainability in the towns of Exmore and Tasley. The LiFePO4 BESS projects support Virginia’s Clean Economy Act goal of 100% clean energy by 2050 and generate money through energy arbitrage, storing electricity when supply is plentiful and releasing it during peak demand.…
Germany’s battery storage boom is real, but so are its bottlenecks. With capital flowing in and gigawatt-hour-scale projects nearing launch, grid connection delays and regulatory uncertainty threaten to dampen momentum. At the third BVES Investor Summit in Berlin, more than 500 industry leaders gathered to weigh the hype against the harsh reality. October 22, 2025 Marija Maisch By ESS news The hype surrounding the German battery storage market continues to grow, but so do the challenges, especially around grid connections. While operating assets are delivering almost unbelievably strong returns and the first gigawatt-hour scale projects are on the horizon, the…
Storage is essential to increase the penetration of renewable energy sources and ensure the flexibility of the electricity grid, according to a study by consultant PSR. However, regulatory and tax barriers still limit the sector and new sources of revenue are needed to make projects viable. October 22, 2025 Livia Neves By ESS news The adoption of energy storage technologies, such as lithium-ion batteries and hydroelectric power plants, could reduce the average cost of Brazil’s electricity system by as much as 16% by 2029, in addition to contributing to reliability and enabling a greater share of renewable energy sources without…
Standard Solar announced it has completed a new community solar and storage project in Westport, Massachusetts. The Division Road project, a 2.38 MW ground-mounted solar array paired with 999 kW DC-coupled battery storage, is now delivering clean power to the New England electric grid. The project was taken over from New Leaf Energy and built in collaboration with EDF power solutions. With nearly 1 MW of storage integrated into the design, the project adds flexibility and resilience to the regional grid, ensuring clean energy is available when demand is greatest. The project also contributes to the state’s Solar Massachusetts Renewable…
Gore Street Energy Storage Fund (GSF) has appointed Norman Crighton as non-executive director of the company, among other changes to the composition of its board of directors and the appointment of Alexa Capital as sell-side advisor.Alexa Capital will advise GSF on the sales process for its 22MW/28MWh Cremzow battery energy storage system (BESS) in Germany, in which the company acquired a 90% stake in 2022.The firm will also advise on the sale of other, as yet undisclosed, pre-construction assets in GSF’s portfolio.GSF announced further changes to its board, with Norman Crighton appointed as the company’s new non-executive director and joining…
Statistics from Enedis show that in the period January-September, 4.2 GW of solar energy was connected to the French electricity grid, including 82 MW combined with storage, which represents a slight decrease compared to 2024. October 22, 2025 Gwénaëlle Deboutte By pv magazine France French distribution network operator Enedis reported 1,507 MW of new PV capacity connected to the electricity grid in the third quarter of 2025, of which 82 MW was equipped with storage. Combined with 1,407 MW connected in the first quarter and 1,358 MW in the second, total new capacity reached 4,272 MW in the first nine…