Queensland government-owned electricity generator Stanwell Energy has committed to provide financial backing for a 50 MW hybrid solar thermal project planned for far western Queensland.

Australian supermarket giant Coles Group has fired the latest salvo in the supermarket wars, announcing on Friday it will commit to 100% renewable electricity by 2025.

Solar module developers have long recognised the detrimental effects heat has on cell performance but West Australian company Sunovate has pointed to solar PV-thermal (PVT) technology as an opportunity to value add by improving efficiency.

Digitalization is expected to play an increasingly important role in the renewable energy sector with a new international report highlighting it as critical for the continued expansion of wind and solar PV power generation.

With ambitious plans to establish a 2 GW renewable energy portfolio in Australia, solar PV module supplier and project developer Risen Energy has signed a deal with Green Gold Energy (GGE) to jointly develop and construct a string of solar projects totalling 80 MW.

The Victorian Government’s push to impose a tax on electric vehicles (EV) is accelerating despite a Federal Government MP warning this week that the uptake of EVs in Australia is too slow, and the industry needs to be supported.

The search for power system security has sparked an Australian first with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) confirming South Australian energy authorities switched off 67 MW of rooftop and large-scale solar PV at the weekend when electricity demand plunged to a near-record low.

Australian households delivered a record year for rooftop solar PV in 2020 with more than 350,000 small-scale solar systems totalling 3 GW installed across the country and the rapid growth shows no signs of slowing with the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) tipping another 4 GW could be installed before the end of 2021.

West Australian smart solar glass developer ClearVue continues to explore new applications for its building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) technology, offering up its solar glass windows to Murdoch University for a research project into near-zero energy transportable mining accommodation.

Solar manufacturing powerhouse Trina Solar’s focus on 210mm wafer-based solar PV technology continues unabated with the Chinese giant introducing trackers into the Australian market that are compatible with the new, larger-format modules.