As another rally brings the voice of solar installers before Victorian lawmakers, signs are beginning to show that the pressure may be having an impact on the Andrews’ state government. The government has indicated that it may look to make changes to the plan – but whether that’s a result of installer pressure or public frustration is yet to be seen.

The quota for rebates in the August round of the Solar Homes program has been snapped up in only 90 minutes. Solar Victoria reports there are “plenty of rebates still available” for rental solar grants, solar hot water and batteries – the latter in qualifying areas only. Industry bodies say that solar sector in “crisis”.

WA’s regional utility Horizon Power will supply homes and businesses that install rooftop PV and batteries with Secure Gateway Devices (SGDs) to allow for higher penetration levels in the northwest town of Onslow. Newcastle-based SwitchIn has been selected by Horizon to supply the SGDs.

Large scale solar PV farm cleaners Australian Solar Maintenance (ASM) are putting Bazza, Gazza and Sheila to work – custom tractors they reckon can boost solar yields at sites heavily impacted by soiling.

The Victorian Labor Government announced in August last year a $1.3 billion “Solar Homes” package to assist homeowners in installing solar PV systems. The scheme will be offered to 770,000 Victorian households for the next 10 years and is in addition to the Federal STC ‘rebate’.

Vietnam had already successfully commissioned 1.5 GW of utility-scale PV at the end of May this year, and there is no sign of this slowing down, with another 2 GW teed up for June 2019. The breakneck speed in development is making Vietnam a powerhouse in the region in installed capacity, even nipping at the heels of Australia. Rystad Energy’s Minh Koi Le looks at the state of play in the Vietnamese solar market.

The Smart Energy Council and Solar Cutters assembled a group of installers to send the message that the Solar Homes rebate scheme is damaging the Victorian solar sector today. The rally was also supported by the Clean Energy Council (CEC), which has called for the Solar Homes rebate to be reduced, and the monthly installation cap ended.

The proposal to build a solar farm on the site of the old South Fremantle tip has been given final development approval. Construction on the former landfill site, for which various redevelopment plans had been submitted since 1985, finally looks set to move ahead.

Retail super fund Future Super is backing peer-to-peer (P2P) solar loans to the tune of $200,000. While only small change, the move is claimed to be the first investment of a retail super fund in P2P clean technology lending.

In the last of a series of blogs, solar pioneer Philip Wolfe looks at areas where solar generating stations are clustered together, without the coordination afforded by organised solar parks.