In the second of a series of four blogs, solar pioneer Philip Wolfe lists the world’s largest solar parks. In these articles, a ‘solar park’ is defined as a group of co-located solar power plants.

In the first of a short series of blogs, solar energy pioneer Philip Wolfe highlights the differences between solar farms, solar parks and clusters, in order to identify the world’s largest solar power stations.

An historic new report from Energy Watch shows that we can reach 100% renewable energy in just a few decades, and it’s affordable; making this the clear answer to tackling climate change.

The ABC current affairs show, 7.30, aired a segment on the safety standards in the Australian solar industry on Monday May 27. The program reported on the potentially tens of thousands of badly installed and unsafe solar systems on rooftops.

The world of electricity is unrelenting and confusing; from a multitude of energy plans to deciding on which solar system to install. The fast emerging home battery market now introduces another opportunity for homeowners to save thousands. However, not all battery systems are equal – and not all homes are suited to installing a home battery. The wrong home battery advice can cost homeowners thousands of dollars in unnecessary equipment.

With Australia amongst the world leaders in solar uptake, a new study finds the nation is currently using less than 5% of the potential capacity for rooftop solar.

Federal trade authorities have ruled that bifacial solar modules are no longer subject to the Section 201 ruling, which currently apply a 25% tariff to most solar modules imported to the United States.

Leaving with a last hurrah, Brexit casualty prime minister Theresa May has announced a statutory instrument to amend the Climate Change Act of 2008. The law currently prescribes an emissions cut of 80% by 2050, from a 1990 baseline. The new law will aim for net zero emissions by 2050, making the U.K. the first G7 nation to pass such legislation.

The South Korean battery manufacturer has joined forces with Victorian recycler Envirostream to develop processing solutions and reduce battery waste stream in Australia.

A study of the relative costs of generation using coal and PV has focused on Vietnam as a case study as the nation is dependent on costly imports of seaborne coal. Analysts paint a straightforward picture explaining why a planned 32 GW new coal pipeline should be shelved.

The project is part of Canadian Solar’s 30 MW Mannum Solar Farm.

With 50 small utility scale arrays installed at South Australian farms, Yates Electrical Services is looking to continue its work in adding power-exporting PV arrays to rural properties. The next step: adding storage to trade during peak demand periods, and moving into solar power retailing, says Mark Yates.

The Beryl Solar Farm has commenced commercial operations. The 87MW AC/110MW plant is supplying electricity for Sydney Metro under a 15-year power purchase agreement.

With PV’s cost declines, the growing question is: where to put it all, particularly in densely populated areas. Ingenuity to the rescue – a technology that took its first steps in 2007 is entering full market maturity. And its potential is rather impressive.

Australian-Chinese renewables developer Maoneng and Chinese module maker and EPC contractor Chint have come together to develop a series of utility-scale solar projects in Australia.

UNSW Sydney will start procuring all of its electricity from a NSW solar farm by next year and gradually expand onsite solar energy generation by 2022, as well as improve energy and water efficiency to reduce its environmental footprint.

JinkoSolar today announced that it has set a new efficiency record for a monocrystalline PERC PV cell at 24.38%, and produced a module that achieved 469.3 W power in testing conducted by TÜV Rheinland. The Chinese module manufacturer also equalled a record claimed just last week by Trina Solar, of 24.58% conversion efficiency for an n-type monocrystalline cell.

With clean energy being generated at lower and lower prices around the world, solar power is playing a leading role in bringing the curtain down on coal, and will help the decarbonization of transport and space heating too.

Australia’s national science agency CSIRO and Canada’s University of British Columbia have announced a memorandum of understanding aimed at accelerating clean hydrogen technologies.

The International Energy Agency says more than 2 million electric vehicles hit the road last year, to take the total to more than 5 million. The agency has stressed the importance of public policy, charging infrastructure and a fall in costs for continued EV uptake, and says up to 43 million EVs could be sold in 2030.

Dustin Mulvaney is a solar industry veteran. Associate professor at the Department of Environmental Studies, San José State University, in the United States, he recently published a new book this April, Solar Power, Innovation, Sustainability, Environmental Justice, which looks at creating a “more sustainable and just solar industry for the future.” A part of this is the creation of a new global sustainability module standard. He spoke with pv magazine as part of the launch of our new UP initiative.

While the world’s biggest solar manufacturers are confident there are plenty of alternative markets for a rising volume of panel exports, the message spelled out by first-quarter shipment figures is that protectionism works.

Europe’s most important scientific research institutes have joined forces to make perovskite solar applications more than just a dream. The European Perovskite Initiative consortium is planning to draw up a perovskite white paper.

At the Clean Energy Council Large-scale Solar Forum yesterday, principal sponsor Longi launched its new Hi-MO 4 range of solar panels in Australia and spoke with pv magazine about its intention to better serve the local industry by opening a fully fledged sales and service office in Australia.

The Hi-MO 4 offers power ratings up to 430 watts, with module efficiencies as high as 19.2%, as the latest high-powered module to hit the floor at Intersolar Europe.

Japan’s J-Power will invest up to $25 million in the Sydney-based publicly listed renewables developer. The investment will underpin the construction of Genex’s landmark pumped hydro project in northern Queensland.

The French renewables giant has reached financial close for the 256.5 MW Kiamal Solar Farm with the support of a group of Australian and European financial institutions. Additionally, Australia’s green bank Clean Energy Finance Corporation entered the project by taking a minority equity stake.

The Queensland government has launched a five-year plan to help drive the development of a renewable hydrogen industry and create more highly skilled jobs and export opportunities.

The Singapore-based developer plans to build another stage of the solar project similar in size and add a grid-scale battery.

Lithium ion battery technology continues to hog the limelight, powered by the growing demand for the battery chemistry from the EV sector. But long established lead acid batteries also have a future, argues Alistair Davidson, the Director of the Consortium for Battery Innovation (CBI).