Solar and wind are being installed at a rate that is three times faster than all other new electricity sources combined. This offers compelling market-based evidence that PV and wind are now the most competitive and practical methods for deploying new generating capacity.

As flow battery technology comes of age, Australia’s capacity to mine the critical minerals required, and manufacture flow batteries has a promising future on the back of embracing automation and supported by government funding.

There are four key Lessons the renewable industry to take away from 2024, cover storage, solar, and everything in between

All Australian energy customers could have their electricity costs reduced if flexible exports were enabled country wide.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s plan for nuclear power in Australia has provoked a great deal of discussion and analysis – most of it critical, writes John Quiggin, a Professor of Economics at the University of Queensland.

Brisbane Airport has announced it’s 100% powered by renewable energy from 10 MW of onsite solar generation sourced via 18,000 solar panels installed across the facility, plus a recent purchase of 100% renewable energy from state-owned generator, Stanwell.

Transgrid has confirmed the cost of the New South Wales section of Project EnergyConnect has climbed to $3.6 billion, well above the $1.82 billion price tag that was originally approved.

RACV has added virtual power plant (VPP) services to its catalogue of membership offerings and follows integration of the FCAS-friendly PowerSync platform with solar and battery installations at RACVs Torquay and Inverloch resorts in Victoria.

Australia’s rooftop solar market finished 2024 on a high with about 309 MW of monthly installations delivering one of the best December totals of recent years and putting the national trend back on the up.

After tumbling to record lows in 2024 on the back of lower metal costs and increased scale, lithium-ion battery prices are expected to enter a period of stabilisation.

The scope of Zen Energy’s fledgling collaboration with Taiwan’s HD Renewable Energy has expanded with the two parties launching a joint venture that is targeting the development of 400 MW of solar and 1 GW of energy storage capacity in Australia.

Plans to build a new electricity transmission link between Tasmania and mainland Australia have progressed with Marinus Link Pty Ltd lodging a development application for a converter station to be built in Tasmania’s northwest.

Owners of rooftop solar arrays in Victoria could soon get almost nothing for exporting their excess power into the grid with the Essential Services Commission releasing a draft decision that would slash payments in response to the rapid uptake of the technology.

Energy infrastructure provider GenusPlus Group has landed a $270 million contract to deliver a “critical” upgrade of Western Australia’s main electricity network as part of the state government’s plan to unlock existing renewable generation capacity, and allow the addition of new renewables to facilitate the retirement of coal-fired generation.

Renewable energy developer Acen Australia is seeking federal government approval for a 100 MW solar facility and an 180 MW battery energy storage system to be built near Cooma in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains region.

Sparc Technologies’ South Australian green hydrogen pilot plant is on track to commence construction in early 2025, following a formal commitment to Stage 2 of the project with industry partners, and procurement of a linear Fresnal concentrated solar system.

University researchers have identified probable locations for critical metals needed to support a green economy by studying how critical metals accumulate at the margins of old cores of continents.

The government of Western Australia has announced seven successful project bids in round three of its clean energy future fund scheme, including two First Nations renewable energy projects that will share $5.5 million from a $16 million pool.

GrainCorp and Ampol have both received ARENA investment into feasability studies on growing a sustainable aviation fuels domestic supply chain in Australia.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has granted New South Wales based battery manufacturer Gelion Technologies $4.8 million in conditional funding to implement its advanced commercial prototyping centre in Sydney.

Independent testing of JinkoSolar’s N-type TOPCon-based perovskite tandem solar cell has achieved a conversion efficiency of 33.84%, surpassing the company’s previous record of 33.24%,

In five key trends, pv magazine looks back over a year that saw PV module prices fall lower than many thought possible, while demand was restrained by grid congestion, among other challenges. Energy storage has had a strong year and geopolitics is seeing solar and battery manufacturing enter new regions as competition drives technical innovation.

The solar industry has dragged its heels on the issue of silver-dependence for cell metallisation, but China’s Jiangsu Xianghuan Technology (JXTC) is moving into commercial production with a copper plating process that overcomes many of the challenges that have limited interest from cell manufacturers.

A Trinasolar efficiency record of 27.08% has been announced for large-area high efficiency n-type fully passivated HJT solar cells, certified by Germany’s leading solar energy research lab.

Amid record-low prices for solar modules, the focus of cost reduction for utility-scale solar projects is shifting to non-module balance-of-system (BoS) expenses. A transition from 1.5 kV voltage to 2 kV in solar projects is expected to gain traction through 2030.

Australian Vanadium Limited’s plan to establish a major vanadium mine in Western Australia’s mid-west have firmed up with its proposal receiving the tick of approval from the state’s Environmental Protection Authority.

The Australian Energy Market Commission has released a final determination to allow virtual power plants to compete directly with large-scale generators in the energy market, scheduled to begin in 2027.

Community submissions for a proposed utility-scale agrivoltaic solar farm on Aotearoa New Zealand’s south island, which would have the capacity to power 70,000 homes annually, has returned 75% against the development.

Researchers from four Australian universities have released a new paper questioning why solar microgrids are not ‘the norm’ in remote Central Australia, while energy insecurity prevails in very remote Aboriginal households.

A Western Australia-based hybrid solar and battery system developer has demonstrated its hybrid units deployed in remote locations for businesses and communities can potentially replace around 150 litres of diesel per day.