Commercial & Industrial PV

In August 2017, Solar Hybrids completed a 226 kW array at the UQ’s Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence (PACE) in Brisbane. The system, across two rooftops presented a significant challenge in that both roofs were partially shaded. By utilizing SolarEdge, an additional 60 kW could be added to the array.

Latest Global Solar Demand Monitor from GTM Research forecasts 6% annual increase in PV installation growth although current largest markets will register 7% contraction while geographic diversification poised to grow.

In anticipation of a more detailed presentation of the scheme, Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg used the opportunity of the speech to the National Press Club to present the National Energy Guarantee as the best possible option to ensure reliability of supply, describing it as “technology neutral”. Amid mounting criticism leveled by retailers, analysts and leading developers of battery storage, few signs of a national consensus on the proposed NEG are emerging.

South32 has announced a remote, off-grid renewable energy project at its Cannington mine, which will involve a 3MW solar farm.

A new report drafted by Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre shows that global solar energy investments overshadowed all other forms of electricity generation in 2017. China is leading the pack of the world’s largest renewables investors, followed by Australia, Mexico and Sweden.

Carnegie Clean Energy has been awarded a $471,000 grant to develop a solar and battery storage solution for the supply of offshore oil and gas platforms. The grant has been provided National Energy Resources Australia (NERA), a body that aims to enhance the competitiveness of Australia’s non-renewable energy sector.

Commercial and industrial (C&I) PV and energy efficiency provider Verdia says that its deal to supply Stockland shopping centres with rooftop PV is just the beginning of a major wave of new installations in the fast-growing market segment. Verdia reports it is working on 130 MW of projects across 350 sites.

The Newcastle City Council will construct a 5 MW PV array at its Summerhill Waste Management Centre. The $8 million PV system is part of an attempt by the council to reduce its $4 million annual electricity bills, after they doubled over the past two years.

Singapore-based solar developer Sunseap will develop 60 MW of rooftop PV across “hundreds of rooftops” on the island-state, to supply Microsoft with solar energy. The companies claim the project will be the largest cumulative solar project in Singapore, alongside being the largest of its kind to supply clean energy to a datacentre in the country.

Spatial analysis of solar potential shows that at least a third of the rooftops in the central business district of Canberra could host solar panels, thus saving on the land needed to provide a substantial proportion of city’s power needs with PV.