September 2023

Modelling from UNSW and the Australian PV Institute has found governments investing in rooftop solar for state-owned and NGO-owned social housing would save low-income tenants money, deliver returns within just a handful of years, and support the grid with new generation.

Gentari, a subsidiary of Malaysian state-owned oil company Petronas, plans to build between 5 GW to 8 GW of solar, wind and battery projects in Australia by 2030. The ambition follows its acquisition and rebranding of Wirsol Energy, which marked the Malaysian company’s entry into the Australian renewable energy market.

New digital modelling technology has made visible 10 GW of untapped capacity in Australia’s existing electricity networks. “That 10 GW number is probably achievable without any meaningful incremental cost investment,” Neara cofounder Jack Curtis tells pv magazine Australia. “This is something that’s really only come into awareness of policy makers, and even the private sector, in past six months.”

Multiple factors affect the productive lifespan of a residential solar panel. In the first part of this series, we look at the solar panels themselves.

REC has developed a new series of heterojunction solar panels with efficiencies up to 22.6% and an operating temperature coefficient of -0.24% per degree Celsius.

Researchers in Australia have provided a series of recommendations to set up regulatory frameworks for PV module recycling and reuse. They said that, as a rule of thumb, landfill bans, tracking of the panels’ serial numbers, and a clear definition of ownership should always be included in the legislation for end-of-life solar products.

Australian thermal storage company, Graphite Energy, has received development approval for a $29 million (USD 18.6 million) sustainable energy precinct in Lake Cargelligo, in the mid-west of New South Wales.

NASA has released an image of “fairy circle” clusters in the North Perth Basin of Western Australia, noting the formations have been discovered to naturally seep hydrogen gas from their perimeters.

A short report explaining upcoming challenges and solutions to electricity security has been published by the Australian Academy of Technology Sciences and Engineering (ATSE). The report calls for more investment to meet government targets and to keep consumer prices down.

Western Australian company Australian Vanadium Limited (AVL) seems to be fairly delayed in realising its vanadium mine and processing plant vision in Western Australia. Nonetheless, the company has signed a new option agreement to purchase land for its processing plant near Geraldton.