February 2022

The Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility Phase II in the United States set off fire alarms that activated a fault water suppression system, triggering a cascading set of events that resulted in roughly 10 battery packs melting down.

Major construction work on the first new electricity interconnector to be built between Australian states in 15 years has commenced with transmission company ElectraNet confirming work has begun on the South Australian section of the $2.3 billion Project EnergyConnect which will link power grids across three states, potentially unlocking gigawatts of renewable energy projects in its path.

One of Australia’s largest residential and commercial solar PV retailers and installers has announced it will exit the market, declaring low margins and once-in-a-generation disruptions to the supply chain brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic have taken a toll.

Two of Australia’s most prominent energy players, Fortescue Future Industries and oil and gas giant Woodside Energy have been included on a shortlist of potential development partners for a proposed 600MW green hydrogen production and export facility planned for New Zealand’s South Island.

British analyst GlobalData has predicted residential and commercial rooftop panels will not return to a declining price trend until next year, with post-Covid logistics headaches the cause, rather than a polysilicon shortage.

Renewable energy investors have again shattered the New South Wales Government’s expectations with more than 80 clean energy projects representing more than $100 billion of potential investment registering for the Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone.

Conceived for the storage of residential and large scale renewable energy, the device has a rated power of over 150mW/cm2, an energy density exceeding 40Wh/L, and a power density of 72.5mW/cm2. The battery was built with an anode made of inexpensive viologen and its cost, according to its creators, may be lower than US$100/kWh (AU$140).

A bill which would make home batteries up to $3,000 cheaper nationwide has been tabled by Independent MP Helen Haines. Haines proposes making home batteries eligible for Small-scale Technology Certificates, the same scheme behind Australia’s thriving rooftop solar sector.

The Victorian government will be expanding its Solar Homes rebate program into the world of Virtual Power Plants (VPPs), announcing on Tuesday that households who install a battery and sign up to the pilot before July 2022 will receive a rebate of over $4000.

TOPCon solar modules will gain more market share if their average efficiency, already higher than that of PERC panels, continues to improve, according to Stefan Glunz, PV research chief at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE. In an upcoming pv magazine webinar on the potential of TOPCon tech, Glunz will show how to reduce costs and increase efficiency.