After months of preliminary work, the time has come: With its PV+home storage network, sonnen GmbH has received prequalification from TenneT to participate in Germany’s primary control energy market. While it is currently allowed to deliver 1 MW, the goal is to supply 100 MW.

In an attempt to encourage more large scale renewable development while maintaining grid stability, Western Power has introduced its Generator Interim Access (GIA) mechanism for 900 MW of wind and large scale solar projects. The GIA will open the door for some PV power plant projects to go ahead in the state, if they agree to curtail production when instructed to do so by the grid operator.

The deal to merge solar hybrid developer Energy Made Clean (EMC), a Carnegie subsidiary, with M-Power is off. Carnegie Clean Energy Chairman Terry Stinson made the announcement at the company’s AGM last week, citing M-Power’s owner TAG’s inability to raise “$4 million required to fund the combined businesses.”

In an extraordinary demonstration of the delays facing many Australian large scale PV power plant projects, the 50 MW Kidston Solar Project has achieved Practical Completion around 12 months after energisation.

The South Korean PV manufacturer saw sales increase slightly in the last quarter. Net losses, however, more than quadrupled compared to the previous period.

We owe a lot to John Howard. He may not have realised it in May 2007, but when he doubled the Photovoltaic Rebate Program value to $8000, our second longest serving prime minister set in motion a chain of events that would lead to Australia hosting 2 million rooftop solar power systems.

The renewable sector has responded warmly to the reappointment of Lily D’Ambrosio as Energy and Environment Minister. Her title has been expanded to take into account the growing responsibility of running the re-elected state government’s expansive solar and storage initiatives.

Pernod Ricard Winemakers will source 100% of its electricity from renewables by mid-2019. The company, responsible for wine brands Jacob’s Creek and Brancott Estate, will install 2.8 MW of PV at its Barossa Valley winery, and source the remainder of its power from renewable energy, under a Virtual Generation Agreement with retailer Flow Power.

The first shipments of Jinko’s new Cheetah module series will commence in January 2019. The module uses larger monocrystalline wafer, PERC cell technology and is available in either a half or full-cell format.

German inverter giant SMA has reported huge market share in the Australian marketplace, announcing 1.8 GW of PV power plant installations in 2018. The company’s dominance of the large scale segment is such that it claims “almost all utility scale PV power plant projects in Australia rely on the SMA Medium Voltage Power Station.”