July 2021

SA Water, one of the largest water utilities in Australia and most ambitious when it comes to renewable energy, has partnered with aerial solar inspection and data analysis company, Above, to monitor the performance of its 360,000+ solar panels.

Solar capacity addition in the fiscal year 2021-22 will surge, led by a strong project pipeline. Tariffs will go up amid rising module prices but will remain competitive at below INR 3/kWh (US$ 0.040/kWh).

An international team of scientists developed a technique to isolate individual sources of electrical ‘noise’ within a solar cell. Comparing the technique to being able to pick out a single voice within a 200-person choir, they say the technique will help to improve understanding of where efficiency losses occur within a cell, and effective ways to mitigate them.

The Australian National University today opened its Distributed Energy Resources Lab, dedicated to researching and testing technologies including batteries, solar panels and electric vehicles which it says will “underpin the energy grids of the future”.


Hydrogen vehicle maker, Hyzon Motors, has signed an agreement to deliver five fuel cell-powered heavy-duty trucks to Ark Energy Corporation, the Australian subsidiary of the world’s largest zinc, lead, and silver producer, Korea Zinc Ltd.

The proposed mega-project would be the world’s largest renewable hub if realised, with a massive 50 GW of solar and wind being used to produce either 3.5 million tonnes of green hydrogen or, alternatively, 20 million tonnes of green ammonia yearly. The $100 billion Western Green Energy Hub, as its called, is being proposed by two of the same companies behind the 26 GW Asia Renewable Energy Hub, which last month had its environmental approvals rejected by the federal environment minister.

Saudi scientists have tested several cooling technologies for solar panels and have found that active techniques work better than passive ones under harsh climatic conditions. The most effective one consists of a system based on four heat pipes immersed in a box of liquid, as liquid bulk, integrated with the back of the solar panel.

The question of overly complicated, time-consuming permitting processes again raised its head at a two-day online event held by the Global Solar Council to examine how to accelerate deployment of photovoltaics.

Better known for its large-scale exploits, global solar module supplier and project developer Risen Energy Australia has lodged a development application to build a 5 MW utility-scale solar PV farm at Wagga Wagga in southern New South Wales.

The return of Barnaby Joyce to the federal National Party’s top job has highlighted tensions within, and dilemmas for, the broader party – particularly on climate change policy and coal.