Articles written by Blathnaid O’Dea

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Manufacturing
Grew Solar, Caelux to produce perovskite-silicon tandem modules in India Grew Solar and Caelux are targeting efficiencies of 29% and up for their 4 GW Indian perovskite-silicon tandem line, with commercial production tipped to begin in 2028.
Blathnaid O’Dea
Sep 18, 2026
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Markets & Policy
How competitive is BESS for data centers, really? Volta Foundation’s July 2026 report ‘Where Batteries Can Win in Data Center Applications’ shows the two areas where battery energy storage systems (BESS) are winning, four where it is competing and two areas where it’s losing out to other technologies in the data center market.
Blathnaid O’Dea
Sep 14, 2026
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Applications & Installations
Peak Energy to build 4 GWh grid-scale sodium-ion BESS factory in California Sodium-ion battery startup Peak Energy says its $71 million factory will be the first facility in the United States dedicated to grid-scale sodium-ion energy storage systems. Shipments are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027.
Blathnaid O’Dea
Jul 15, 2026
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Markets & Policy
U.S. government restricts trade with prominent Chinese storage companies CATL, BYD, JA Solar, Trina Solar, Three Gorges and Huawei are among those listed under the U.S. Department of Defense’s trade restriction, effective from 2027.
Blathnaid O’Dea
Jun 11, 2026
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Applications & Installations
Siemens Energy buys Camlin Group, maker of transformer monitoring software The deal to acquire Northern Irish grid software specialist Camlin Group, which specializes in sensor-based transformer monitoring, follows Siemens Energy’s 2025 expansion of its transformer factory in Nuremberg, Germany.
Blathnaid O’Dea
Jun 08, 2026
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Applications & Installations
Global grid capex to surpass $650 billion in 2026, says Rystad Energy Global transformer manufacturing capacity reached 4,700 gigavolt-amperes (GVA) in 2025, supported by around 400 plants operated by more than 260 manufacturers. These statistics are from a new report by Rystad illustrating the global energy market’s dependence on access to critical grid equipment.
Blathnaid O’Dea
Jun 08, 2026
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Technology & Products
Philippines proposes stricter PV, battery product certification rules The proposed regulation for product safety and quality standards applies to all solar and PV components, whether locally manufactured or imported.
Blathnaid O’Dea
Jun 03, 2026
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Technology & Products
US startup begins manufacturing grid-scale flywheel ESS SOSV-backed Qnetic is aiming to raise $20 million in 2026. Over the next two years it will work with the National Lab of the Rockies and other partners on field testing and validating its technology across multiple use cases.
Blathnaid O’Dea
Mar 31, 2026
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Applications & Installations
On-site batteries accelerate grid access for data center developers Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are increasingly used in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) applications for data centers and to speed grid connections, offering services beyond what gas turbines can provide, including emerging approaches such as bring your own capacity (BYOC) and flexible grid connections (FGC).
Blathnaid O’Dea
Mar 20, 2026