Commercial & Industrial PV

Western Australian solar window company ClearVue Technologies has launched its commercial campaign in Australia with an order to provide its clear solar glass technology for a $12 million, six-storey building being built in Victorian state capital Melbourne.

A record 921 MW of PV was installed across Australian rooftops in the final quarter of 2023, taking new rooftop solar capacity to about 3.17 GW for all of last year, second only to the 3.23 GW total rolled out in 2021.

Solar glass manufacturer ClearVue Technologies will look to ramp up the commercialisation of its power-generating solar windows in Australia after finalising its first manufacturing and distribution agreement in the country.

Scientists in Czechia have proposed to use parallel inverters in PV systems to not only reduce instability, but also to increase power yield. The proposed approach reportedly results in higher maximum power point tracking (MPPT) performance.

Enphase has released 208 V three-phase inverters for the small commercial market. The advancing hardware comes with a specialised support team and tailored design tools.

Scientists in Australia have combined Monte Carlo Ray Trace (MCRT) techniques and electrical modelling to assess the potential energy gains of bifacial rooftop PV systems compared to monofacial arrays. They found that rooftop reflectivity is a key factor in increasing a bifacial PV system performance, and that system and module design should also be carefully considered.

Smoke from wildfires significantly effects solar output, researchers from UNSW have found. Specifically, Australia’s Black Summer in 2019 – 2020 caused energy losses from residential and utility PV systems estimated between 175 to 35 GWh, equating to a worst-case financial loss of around $6.1 to $29 million.

A report from Ernst & Young shows that despite inflationary pressures, solar remains the cheapest source of new-build electricity. The global weighted average levelised cost of electricity for PV is now 29% lower than the cheapest fossil fuel alternative.

One of Australia’s largest property developers has joined forces with Energy Bay, which specialises in distributed renewable energy solutions for property landlords. Energy Bay is making it possible for Stockland to utilise the energy produced at its properties with large rooftops and low energy use, such as its warehouses, to provide extra energy for its high-energy use properties.

Zen Energy has inked a six-year deal with Australian property fund manager ISPT to supply 14 different Queensland shopping centres and commercial properties with power from the 200 MW Blue Grass Solar Farm.