Distributed Storage

In the five weeks between subsidy step-down being announced and implemented under the $100 million Home Battery Scheme, more than 5,000 subsidies were approved.

SA Water has bought a significant portion of land from ExxonMobil Port Stanvac oil refinery to build a large-scale solar farm to generate energy for its neighbouring Adelaide Desalination Plant. The project is part of SA Water’s $300 million investment in solar and energy storage.

An independent testing program for battery systems has revealed what failures can occur, and the key factors that underpin reliable battery operation and supply. Canberra-based ITP Renewables is carrying out the testing program and reports on its first two phases.

The Northern Territory Government stated openly that it would fund its new household and business battery scheme by massively reducing the feed-in tariff paid to new rooftop generators. The immediate result seems to have been an instant retreat from rooftop solar installation that threatens NT solar businesses.

With 4.4 GW of new renewable energy capacity installed and almost a quarter of Australia’s electricity supply now coming from renewable energy sources, 2019 was another year of extraordinary growth, according to the latest edition of the Clean Energy Australia report. As rooftop solar continued its record-breaking streak, big PV made up more than two-thirds of Australia’s large-scale renewable energy capacity installed last year. Meanwhile, the battery storage sector started to gain momentum.

An ARENA backed project has resulted in an all-in-one battery storage that could simplify batteries for a number of applications. Australian-based Relectrify was behind the project which could see the inverter and battery management system combined in one unit. 

Melbourne solar Thermal Hydro tech company RayGen has announced a strategic partnership with global developer Photon Energy. The boost comes only weeks after added ARENA funding and signals a major push toward a solution to the problem of solar intermittency.

Katoomba High School student Estelle Dee is collecting signatures for a petition to NSW Energy and Environment Minister, Matt Kean, for the installation of solar panels at every NSW public school within the next three years.

Before social-distancing became a thing, Western Australia stood apart from the rest of the country. Defined by remoteness, the state is beginning to embrace its identity, and cure itself of network headaches at the same time, with the uptake of stand-alone power systems (SPS).

National utility Transpower said that solar could take a 9.3% share of the country’s generation mix by the middle of the century. However, real growth is only forecast to occur from 2035, with distributed generation expected to account for more than 80% of total installed PV.