Solar’s exponential growth disrupts global energy markets in 2024
Australian think tank Climate Energy Finance (CEF) says global energy markets are being reshaped by solar’s disruption, which is happening at speed, turbocharged by battery energy storage system firming.
Sydney basketball association scores interest-free solar and battery loan
The City of Sydney Basketball Association has a new donor-enabled 39.78 kW solar and 25.6 kWh battery system, funded via an interest-free loan from the national climate action charity CORENA.
New passive solar module cooling tech based on lightweight hydrogel
Researchers at Thailand’s Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology demonstrated a novel hydrogel that has high cooling effect on silicon PV panels.
IKEA Australia Sydney warehouse furnished with hybrid solar and battery system
IKEA Australia has partnered with Smart Commercial Solar to install a $2.9 million, 2,034 kW rooftop solar and battery energy storage system on a western Sydney distribution centre.
Rooftop solar capacity in 2024 Australia tracking to 3.2 GW record: regulator
The Clean Energy Regulator’s quarterly carbon market report finds rooftop solar capacity in 2024 is likely to have been about 3.2 GW and could set an Australian record.
New 13 MW New Zealand-based solar farm goes live near south Auckland
Aotearoa New Zealand utility-scale solar developer Kiwi Solar has announced its 13 MW Ardmore Solar Farm near South Auckland is now live, after a 5.5 month construction period.
Remote Papua New Guinea Kokoda Trail school installs solar powered mini-grid
A remote high school in Papua New Guinea has installed a solar powered mini-grid to classrooms and schoolground infrastructure such as a solar water pump and solar powered irrigation system, with the support of an Australian government off-grid renewable energy in the Pacific program.
Solar panel installation costs remain near all-time lows: Solar Choice
The March 2025 Solar Choice Price Index shows solar panel prices per watt nationwide, except in Tasmania, continue to follow a trend since December 2020 of remaining below the $1 mark, and currently sit at $0.90 per watt.
NT solar centre data feeds ultra-short-term PV forecasting method
Scientists utilising data gathered at the Northern Territory’s Desert Knowledge Australia Solar Centre have created a novel probabilistic model for five-minutes ahead PV power forecasting. The method combines a convolutional neural network with bidirectional long short-term memory, attention mechanism, and natural gradient boosting.
Global solar installations could reach 1 TW next year
BloombergNEF reports the world installed nearly 600 GW of solar power in 2024, closely aligning with projections that annual global solar installations will surpass 1 TW within the next few years. Although projections for 2025 currently fall short of that pace, early forecasts often underestimate actual deployment.
