An emphatic election victory for the incumbent Labor government means Australia’s rapid shift to renewable energy will continue.

With the increasing pressure to decarbonise the energy system while preserving arable land and biodiversity, agrivoltaics is quickly becoming a vital pathway towards sustainable development. A new report from the IEA PVPS Task 13 lays out a compelling vision for how solar energy and agriculture can not only coexist but thrive together.

In recent years, the world has experienced a significant surge in the number of data centres, resulting in a rise in energy demand, posing both challenges and opportunities for the global energy sector.

With module sizes increasing, labour shortages worsening and workplace safety risks escalating, automation is a necessity.

Around the world, more and more electric vehicles are hitting the road. Last year, more than 17 million battery-electric and hybrid vehicles were sold. Early forecasts suggest this year’s figure might reach 20 million. Nearly 20% of all cars sold today are electric.

Queensland voltage control specialist EcoJoule Energy has received a $3 million commitment from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation as part of its $15 million capital raise.

Renewables developer Elgin Energy says it has secured connection agreement with the Australian Energy Market Operator for a 150 MW solar farm and 250 MWh battery energy storage system being developed in regional Victoria.

Western Australian engineering outfit Powertech has called for targeted government funding and focused training schemes to combat a looming workforce crisis that it says threatens Australia’s renewable energy industry growth plans.

New South Wales-based perovskite cell producer Halocell Energy is partnering with University of Queensland researchers to accelerate the commercial production of lead-free solar panels based on record-breaking tin-halide PV cell technology.

Australian PV innovator SunDrive Solar says it has struck an agreement with two of China’s biggest solar equipment manufacturers to help launch its copper electrode technology onto the global market.

Scientists have developed a precursor formulation for different PV simulation tools that can help calculate the expected performance of solar farms deployed on hilly slopes. Validation tests against an experimental setup showed an error of less than 3%.

An electrician in South Australia has been convicted and fined for providing false or misleading documents in the small-scale renewable energy scheme.

Queensland government-owned utility Ergon Energy has announced it will build the state’s first network-connected microgrid as it investigates how to best utilise distributed energy resources, such as rooftop solar, and improve the reliability of electricity supply in edge-of-grid communities.

ClearVue Technologies has entered the New Zealand market through an exclusive manufacturing and distribution agreement for its solar glass and building integrated PV technology with Viridian Glass, the nation’s largest glass fabricator.

A company in Fiji has launched a tender for a consulting firm to carry out a feasibility study for a proposed 10 MW ground-mounted solar plant. The deadline for applications is May 30.

A three-year field experiment comparing the performance and reliability of passivated emitter and rear cell, tunnel oxide passivated contact, and silicon heterojunction solar modules in desert climates found that HJT modules exhibited the highest degradation, while TOPCon modules showed the lowest degradation.

Chinese storage manufacturer Sofar has released a flexible energy storage system for small and medium-sized commercial and industrial users, as well as a storage cabinet for AC-coupled scenarios.

The Chinese manufacturer told pv magazine that high production costs and low module prices influenced its decision to change its well-known metal wrap through technology out for mass produced N-type technology for its latest product.

South Australia researchers will team with industry partners to build a concentrated solar thermal plant in New South Wales featuring lightweight plastic mirrors that incorporate an aluminium-silica reflective coating to produce industrial heat or electricity.

Australian researchers have identified five contaminants that could increase damp heat-induced degradation in TOPCon and heterojunction cells and modules. Their analysis has shown these contaminants could originate from improper handling during cell or module processing.

Chinese solar cell and module maker Aiko has unveiled its new intelligent solar module series, Navigator. Based on the company’s N-type, all-back-contact technology, Navigator promises a 3% to 5% boost in annual energy yield and lower operating costs.

United States-headquartered PV module manufacturer SEG Solar has successfully commissioned a solar cell factory in Indonesia with the first N-type cell produced at the facility having rolled off the production line.

The EcoLife series brings Longi’s back contact technology to the residential solar market with panels that reportedly offer quicker system payback and reduced power degradation over time.

Energy storage specialist Powin has launched Pod Max, a 6.26 MWh containerised lithium-ferro-phosphate battery system that delivers 25% more energy density than its standard 5 MWh product. The liquid-cooled unit targets grid-scale applications.

The new products are available in seven versions with power output ranging from 630 W to 660 W and power conversion efficiency spanning from 23.3% to 24.4%.

The Victorian government has fast tracked the approval of what is to be one of the state’s biggest battery energy storage systems as it seeks to accelerate the development of projects to support its renewable energy ambitions.

New South Wales has launched a new tender seeking 1 GW of long-duration energy storage projects that are each able to continuously dispatch power for at least eight hours at their registered capacity.

Further reducing their reliance on diesel fuel and pre-paid power cards, the remote Northern Territory community of Borroloola in the state’s Gulf Country is building a microgrid called the Ngardara Project, to enable affordable, reliable power for it’s residents.

Australian energy giant AGL has added two pumped hydro projects with a combined capacity of almost 1.4 GW, each with 10 hours of energy storage, to its development pipeline as it works to transition its energy portfolio from coal-fired power generation to backed-up renewables.

Western Australian-headquartered Pacific Energy says it will design and deliver a hybrid power system featuring a 10.6 MW solar farm as part of plans to power a critical minerals project in remote New South Wales with up to 100% renewable energy.