Vietnam had already successfully commissioned 1.5 GW of utility-scale PV at the end of May this year, and there is no sign of this slowing down, with another 2 GW teed up for June 2019. The breakneck speed in development is making Vietnam a powerhouse in the region in installed capacity, even nipping at the heels of Australia. Rystad Energy’s Minh Koi Le looks at the state of play in the Vietnamese solar market.

Evaluating and reporting Scope 1-3 emissions is a landmark commitment, showing leadership towards the implementation of the Paris Agreement

The Solar Price Index for July 2019 as published monthly by Solar Choice noted a 13% rise in residential solar prices in Victoria following the re-opened rebate scheme being snapped up in the first 3 days.

In the last of a series of blogs, solar pioneer Philip Wolfe looks at areas where solar generating stations are clustered together, without the coordination afforded by organised solar parks.

Coal fleets represent huge financial risk to shareholders and investors write Tim Buckley IEEFA’S Director of Energy Finance Studies, Kate Finlayson the organisation’s Senior Communications Strategist.

The Australian supermarket giant will purchase more than 70% of the electricity generated by three solar power plants to be built and operated by Metka EGN outside the regional centres of Wagga Wagga, Corowa and Junee – the equivalent of 10% of Coles’ national electricity usage.

Australian Vanadium and Metrowest Power Systems have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding to facilitate energy storage opportunities using vanadium redox flow battery technology.

Following up suspicions raised by the state’s solar installer community, Solar Victoria launched an investigation into whether artificial intelligence (AI) had been deployed to exploit registrations for the rooftop PV subsidy. The investigation has concluded that there was no AI interference in the Solar Homes portal.

ANZ has extended its collaboration with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, committing to facilitating a further $100 million of finance to help Australian businesses cut energy costs and reduce carbon emissions. Under the scheme, the bank is offering financial discounts for upgrades and new investments in solar PV, energy storage, EVs and other technologies.

The Australian arm of global mining manufacturer Molycop will be partly powered by wind and solar with the help of a long-term offtake deal inked with electricity retailer Flow Power. Under the new partnership, the manufacturer will have access to the ARENA Demand Response program.

Byron Bay’s Smart Energy has expanded rapidly across Australia from its base in the Northern Rivers on the back of a high-quality workmanship and a business model that allows customers to pay for their solar with the savings it provides.

In a major battle over land use, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has decided to refuse a planning permit for the 200 MW Bookaar Solar Farm, near Camperdown.

AC Renewables, the energy arm of Philippines’ Ayala Corp, and Australia’s UPC Renewables have agreed to buy 51% in a 250 MW pumped hydro project and a neighboring 300 MW solar project, both located in South Australia.

In partnering with the National Maritime Museum in Sydney, SunMan has found an ideal showcase for the capabilities of its innovative eArche lightweight solar panels. A crush of CBD businesses cranes in to consider PV’s latest possibilities. 

Stage 1 or an equivalent of 85 MW has been installed and tested at the Finley Solar Farm, one of the many large-scale solar developments in the Riverina region.

Toulouse-based startup Sunbirds has set up an office, assembly workshop and maintenance centre in Brisbane. The company is providing solar-powered drones and drone-as-a-service solutions to surveyors, cattle stations and environmental monitoring companies.

MIT scientists have developed a class of liquid electrolyte with properties they say could open up new possibilities for improving the performance and stability of lithium batteries and supercapacitors.

A German research team claims to have created a new visualization technique it says can enable detailed mapping of the energetic landscapes of organic PV cells on a nano scale. The technique could lead to organic cells with reduced power losses.

An EU funded solar-plus-storage project has been tendered in the Philippines. The United Nations is seeking bids for the system to support the seaweed industry on the island of Tawi-Tawi. Combining PV with aquaculture brings many advantages for both, including water conservation, a more controlled aquatic environment, and ecosystem restoration.

A vision of a decentralized, renewable-powered electricity grid is being brought a step closer by scientists at the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Their project, Autonomous Energy Grids, aims to take an overarching look at the solutions that will power this grid of the future, and to fill any gaps that appear between them.

To develop cost-competitive solar modules the nation must adopt a phased program and set up 15 GW of silicon-ingot-to-solar-module manufacturing capacity by 2024, according to The Energy and Resources Institute.

The Brisbane-based energy storage manufacturer has raised $4.75 million in Series A funding from the Queensland Government Business Development Fund and Australian institutional and family investors.

For the second half of the year, the German inverter producer expects a significant increase in revenues and earnings, mainly due to high order intake. It also confirmed its forecast for the full fiscal year, despite declining sales and sales in the first six months of 2019.

The research firm says the value of the global inverter market will continue to decline until 2024, even though shipments will likely increase. China’s recent policy changes have increased pressure on prices, which will contribute to greater consolidation in the sector.

Chinese PV module maker Risen Energy has announced it has achieved the highest jump in solar module sales in the Australian market in a one-year period.

Plummeting costs, industry maturity, and the ever-increasing penetration of global renewables are expanding the use cases for battery storage technology. Over the past year and a half, storage projects are increasing significantly in both scope and capacity.

The energy storage market is set to be the latest affected by Trump’s trade war, and lithium-ion batteries were not included in a group of Chinese imports where tariffs will be delayed until December 15.

Ovida provides PPAs to businesses and multi-tenanted buildings, but the company is also working hard on a Community Energy Microgrid Hub and Victoria’s largest concentration of on-grid microgrids in the heart of Victorian coal country, the Latrobe Valley

A report produced by an AI and automation market research company says an anticipated boom in the European storage market – driven by a desire to reduce carbon emissions – will attract producers as demand outside China tails away.

By considering use of the metal in charging infrastructure, analyst Wood Mackenzie has found higher demand from the mobility sector than is the case if only the volume of the material required for vehicle construction is examined.