Commercial & Industrial PV

One of the two largest managers of Australian retail property, Vicinity Centres, has invested $73 million in a solar program set to provide 31 MW of clean energy to 22 shopping centres and their retailers by end 2019. An early-stage trial of Trina bifacial panels will see Vicinity increase its solar yield mid-rollout.

Solar has grown so much that its output exceeded brown coal and gas over the summer months, between 9am to 5pm. New analysis by Green Energy Markets shows that across the whole of summer, renewable energy produced 128% more megawatt-hours of electricity than gas and 23% more than brown coal.

New polling from The Australia Institute shows that almost 70% of South Australian voters regardless of political leanings want to see the state transition to 100% renewable energy by the year 2030.

A 1.2 MW solar array has been powered up at Western Australian “spy station” near Geraldton. The array aims to take pressure off the region’s ageing power grid.

In what is described as Australian first climate bond, which gives investors access to new ways to invest in solar and storage, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has contributed $10 million towards the latest of FlexiGroup’s green bond issuances. The inclusion of energy storage in the underlying asset base is viewed as an important market development.

While renewables continue to do their bit on decarbonizing the energy sector, national emissions, especially in the transport sector, continue to rise amid a lack of any federal or state government limits, The Australia Institute warns. Total renewable supply, including rooftop solar, is at 21.2% of generation from all sources across the NEM, eating into the share once firmly held by coal and gas.

One of the Gold Coast’s most iconic pieces of infrastructure, the Sand Bypass System, will soon welcome a 100 kW solar array as part of a pilot project aimed at reducing operational costs.

Last year, Sun Metals insurer FM Global proposed cyclone testing the company’s 125 MW solar infrastructure near Townsville in Queensland, to better understand the risks involved in covering the asset against damage. The insurer today called for standardised testing of solar-farm designs proposed for the country’s north east, and the application of clear building guidelines that safeguard vital renewable infrastructure.

Toyota Australia will transform its former manufacturing site in West Melbourne into a renewable energy hub to produce green hydrogen with the help of funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). In other hydrogen-related news, researchers at UNSW Sydney with partners H2Store have received a $3.5 million investment from Providence Asset Group to develop a hydrogen residential storage.

A 30 kW vertical array has powered up at Australia’s Casey research station in Antarctica. The project is one the largest solar installations on the southernmost, ice-covered continent.