An unlikely union has been discovered by members of ARC Centre of Excellence in Exciton Science, who have found a way to control the growth of phase-pure perovskite crystals for next-generation photovoltaics using water.

Some believe Australia has begun to tip over the “solar cliff,” reaching penetrations that are becoming disruptive to the balance of the grid and to the business models of solar companies themselves. Following notable exits from the market, alarm bells are ringing for solar companies to offer more than just solar installations, writes pv magazine’s Bella Peacock.

The southern tip of Western Australia will soon be the focus of an ocean energy project which is hoping to match end-users to ocean energy solutions and eventually build a “physical marketplace using an integrated microgrid approach” – though exactly what this involves remains somewhat vague.

As part of the Smart Energy Conference held in Sydney last week, the Smart Energy Council’s Scott Hamilton ran a session on Australia’s hypothetical energy landscape in 2030. This is how panelists Simon Holmes á Court, Jane Caro, Richard Denniss, Karrina Nolan and Professor Iain MacGill think we’ll be living at the decade’s close.

From today, Western Australians will be able to claim a $3,500 rebate to buy a new electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The announcement comes as part of the state government’s $60 million Clean Energy Car Fund.

BlueScope Steel, the country’s largest steelmaker, will partner with its local university in Wollongong and Future Fuels CRC to undertake a 13 month research project investigating options for decarbonising its operations at the Port Kembla Steelworks.

Oil and gas giant BP is reportedly set to take a 30% stake in the 26 GW Asian Renewable Energy Hub project proposed for Western Australia’s north coast.

The best performing large-scale PV asset in Australia this month was Genex Power’s Kidston solar farm in Queensland, according to Rystad analyst Dave Dixon, who noted total generation from solar and wind assets in Australia grew 23% compared to April 2021.

The Greens are proposing to electrify an entire Australian town and a suburb in a major city, including providing electric vehicles for households, the party’s leader Adam Bandt has revealed. The proposed pilot, which would be enabled by a $235 million fund, was inspired by Australian Saul Griffith’s ‘electrify everything’ campaign.

Solar companies are reporting widespread staff shortages leading to false price points around the value of installers. Scott Mason, general manager of Platinum Solar Designs, says the shortages aren’t simply part of Australia’s broader skills scarcity, but rather are endemic to the solar industry and linked to a regulatory system which is pushing down the quality of installations.