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.

Power purchase agreements for 8.6 GW of clean energy have been signed in 2019 till July—up from 7.2 GW at the same time last year—with USA alone accounting for up to 70% of the deals. India continues to lead the Asia Pacific region despite registering a slowdown in the activity – almost almost twice as much as the volume recorded in Australia.

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.

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.

The Andrews Labor Government is delivering on last year’s election promise to boost renewable energy in Victoria and is seeking to legislate increasing its renewable energy target to 50% by 2030.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and the Bank of Queensland Finance Division (BOQF) are teaming up to provide $100 million in financing for clean energy upgrades to their facilities, equipment and fleets. The BOQF Energy Efficient Finance will provide loans at a 0.7% discount, drawing on the CEFC funds, to businesses looking to invest in upgrades and equipment that will reduce emissions and deliver savings on energy costs.

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.

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

Researchers have built a tool to use cheap satellite imagery – like Google Maps – to automatically create solar designs with a 91% accuracy rate.

A 1.6 MW community solar farm will support the Victorian town of Natimuk to reach its target of being 100% powered by renewable energy. The project is underpinned by state government funding.

The German developer and EPC contractor has reached the final development milestone on a solar and battery project in the Riverina region and moved into construction phase.

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.

Scientists at the Australia National University have observed a key stage in the process of photosynthesis which could be copied to greatly increase the efficiency of sunlight-powered water splitting processes used to produce hydrogen.

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.

Pestech, a Malaysia-based electrical power technology company, has entered into a partnership with Chinese inverter maker Sungrow to jointly develop new floating solar solutions.

The Israeli inverter manufacturer saw its net profit decline 4% year-on-year to $33.1 million in the second quarter, despite shipping 1.3 GW and seeing a 43% increase in turnover. Gross margins were affected by the increase in U.S. tariffs on China made products.

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.

A technology to manufacture “honeycomb” materials for energy storage applications from priority Australian mineral resources and AI-based hybrid of lithium batteries and hydrogen fuel cells with DC loss detection system are among the winners of the funding granted in the Cooperative Research Center Program (CRC-P) latest round.

South Australian outdoor furniture brand Sedi has developed bespoke benches and shelter options for smart cities and regional areas.

Researchers in the US have published a study that brings 20 years of renewable energy (solar PV and/or wind plus storage) generation into line with historical energy-demand profiles, to ascertain at what storage cost point renewables can cost-effectively consistently meet 100% demand.

Victoria’s Monash University has unveiled the nation’s largest hybrid battery storage system as part of a microgrid that will cover 100% of power needs at its biggest campus with renewable energy.