Mark Hutchins
Imeon Energy to open service center in Melbourne
The latest in a series of international players in the residential storage space, French hybrid inverter supplier Imeon Energy has announced plans to open a new service center in Melbourne, providing further evidence of Australia’s attractiveness in this market.
More big batteries on the way in 2018
Large-scale storage began to gain a lot of attention in 2017, particularly after Elon Musk’s famed ‘100 days’ tweet back in March. Now that this project has proved an initial success, it looks like more big batteries are on the way for the National Electricity Market (NEM).
Australia approaching two million rooftop PV systems
Data from the Clean Energy Regulator shows that Australia is nearing two million installed rooftop PV systems, having reached 1,778,687 as of the beginning of December 2017.
Singaporean solar researchers reach 21.5% efficiency on MonoPoly cell technology, presents rival to PERC
The Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) announced a new efficiency milestone, achieving 21.5% average cell efficiency for its fully screen printed bifacial silicon technology. According to SERIS, the milestone was achieved at pilot-scale production using commercially available wafers
IHS Markit: Global solar installations to pass 100 GW in 2018
Market analyst IHS Markit has issued its first forecast for 2018 installations. It expects the global market to surpass the 100 GW mark for the first time ever, hitting 108 GW.
Maoneng signs PPA for 300 MW in New South Wales
Chinese/Australian developer Maoneng has signed a 15-year PPA to provide energy company AGL with 300 MW of PV projects, to provide up to 800,000 MWh of electricity per year. The projects form part of AGL’s plan to replace the coal-fired Liddell Power Station, set to close in 2022.
ARENA awards $29.2 million to 20 solar R&D projects
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced that it will award multiple Australian universities and research institutes with a total of $29.2 million to support early-stage research into new solar innovations.
Construction begins on Australia’s first hybrid solar+wind+storage plant in Queensland
Ground was broken on the 60 MW project in a ceremony held on Monday. Developer Windlab limited says it expects the $160 million project to be completed in late 2018.
DNV GL: AI will make renewables more efficient
A paper published by consultancy DNV GL forecasts major growth in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) applications within renewable energy, and outlines the risks and opportunities of such technologies.
Western Australia takes first steps in utility-scale storage
As Tesla is finalizing connection of the world’s largest energy storage facility in South Australia, trials have got underway for the first utility-scale storage system in Western Australia.
