Challenges and innovations drive solar and energy storage inverter industry forward in 2025.
The most important energy cost is not what a corporation pays to produce or generate it, but what a consumer pays to buy it. That’s why the delivered cost of rooftop solar and batteries – and the other benefits these technologies provide to the system – need to be factored in when making investment decisions.
Solcast, a DNV company, reports that Australia’s summer has been much sunnier than expected so far, with localised weather events only bringing brief disruptions.
Martin Schachinger, founder of pvXchange.com, said PV module prices will depend on national and international demand trends in the coming months, with outcomes ranging from increases to stagnation or further declines. Almost anything is possible, but nothing is certain.
Australia’s energy future is at a critical juncture. With one of the highest rates of rooftop solar saturation globally, the nation has embraced renewable energy in a way that reflects both environmental commitment and practical economics. Yet, this progress could be undermined by a potential turn to nuclear power – a choice that risks sidelining the investments made by millions of Australians in clean energy.
Solar farms in New South Wales led the way for Australia’s utility scale PV energy output in January, generating 929 GWh of renewable electricity to drive all Australian large-scale PV and wind generation up 12% on the same time last year.
Renewables developer Ampyr Australia plans to fast track the development of a 1 GWh battery energy storage system in central New South Wales after buying out former project partner Shell Energy.
Victorian startup Kite Magnetics plans to accelerate the development and production of its lightweight electric motor technology with a new advanced manufacturing facility to be established in Melbourne.
Plans to develop a 2.88 GW green hydrogen production facility near Gladstone on the central Queensland coast are in serious doubt after the state government announced it will not commit funding to the $12.4 billion project.
Australia’s grid-scale battery fleet is forecast to grow rapidly in the next three years with market analytics platform Modo Energy revealing 16.8 GW / 42.8 GWh of battery energy storage projects are in the pipeline in the National Electricity Market through to 2027.
A 26 MW hybrid power system being constructed at a remote New South Wales mine site has knocked out another milestone with developer Pacific Energy confirming the power conversion units are all in place and about 50% of the solar farm electrical works have been completed.
Acen Australia is proposing to develop a 320 MW agrisolar and 1,400 MWac two-hour battery storage system project in the New England renewable energy zone with a potential lifespan of 50 years.
Researchers in China have investigated the dust-scaling process and various water-based cleaning methods to optimise maintenance strategies for enhanced safety and efficiency in solar systems.
Rebranded renewables developer Potentia Energy expects an “improved” Cohuna Solar Farm will recommence generating in the coming weeks after a more than 10-month hiatus that has allowed for an extensive upgrade of the Victorian renewable power plant.
Leapting will soon deploy a solar module-mounting robot at an Australian project, saying the automatic installation speed of the AI-driven machine can reach one panel per minute, delivering an estimated 30% reduction in installation costs on utility scale solar projects.
A new study in Germany shows the advantages of thermal energy storage in the decarbonisation of industrial processes, including in Australia. The researchers noted clear cost advantages and high potential for flexibility in the power grid.
The Harmony Energy and First Renewables joint venture have approved the final investment and successfully completed financial close on the 202 MW Tauhei Solar Farm on Aotearoa New Zealand’s North Island.
Manager of Western Australia’s South West Interconnected System Western Power has been allocated $20.8 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency for its Project Jupiter, which for the first time in Australia will integrate a live distributed energy resources marketplace with wholesale markets.
Scientists have compared conventional PV modules to self-made BIPV panels with thicker, patterned glass. They tested them both under standard conditions and outdoors under Korean summer conditions. Yield was found to be only 0.5% lower in the textured BIPV module.
A co-inventor of the passivated emitter and rear cell silicon solar cell technology, Professor Andrew Blakers, has been appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia on the 2025 Australia Day Honours list.
The researchers built the cell with a hole transport layer (HTL) based on PEDOT:PSS and were reportedly able to reduce the losses caused by this compound with the utilisation of a thiocyanate additive. The champion lab-sized device achieved an open circuit voltage of 0.875 V, a short circuit current density of 31.84 mA cm−2, and a fill factor of 83.23%.
Chinese electronics manufacturer Anker has declared its Solix X1 AC-couple energy storage system perfectly suited for Australia’s diverse geography and climate conditions.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales have broken the energy efficiency world record for a kesterite solar cell, a technology that is being explored as a potential long-term improvement for silicon-based PV technology.
Wood Mackenzie’s latest report forecasts that 493 GW (DC) of solar will be added throughout the world this year, compared to 495 GW in 2024. Solar module prices are expected to rise this year as manufacturers aim to recover profit losses from the past two years.
Wood Mackenzie says that JinkoSolar has taken first place on its list of solar panel manufacturers. The report confirms the dominance of the TOPCon technology but also notes that heterojunction and back contact panel manufacturers are increasing their production share.
Clean Energy Investor Group research finds the national electricity market is an outdated design – built for an era of coal and gas – and hinders investment in modern large-scale energy projects like wind, solar, and batteries.
A new paper co-authored by Australian National University Professor Andrew Blakers discusses the potential for long-duration pumped hydro energy stations built on non-river locations, which, with batteries, can solve world’s energy storage needs.
Like a gift that keeps on giving across Australia’s electricity markets, distributed solar has punched yet again above its weight to break records in the close out of 2024, according to a new report from the Australian Energy Market Operator.
Solar powered energy hubs are ready to help keep the lights on for 24 Victorian communities as part of a $7.5 million state government program to build energy resilience when faced with prolonged outage.
Vena Energy is claiming a milestone for the Australian power market with the successful commissioning of a 41.5 MW battery energy storage system as part its Tailem Bend 2 solar-plus-storage project in South Australia.
This website uses cookies to anonymously count visitor numbers. To find out more, please see our Data Protection Policy.
The cookie settings on this website are set to "allow cookies" to give you the best browsing experience possible. If you continue to use this website without changing your cookie settings or you click "Accept" below then you are consenting to this.