NSW council switches on solar in search for 100% renewables
Bega Valley Shire Council in New South Wales has announced a significant milestone in its journey towards 100% renewable energy by 2030 with the successful export of power from its newest solar energy site to the national grid.
Weekend read: Competition heats up
Oversupply is hitting some solar manufacturers hard but grid constraints and labor shortages are unlikely to hold the solar industry back in 2024.
GoodWe releases 335 W BIPV panels with 17.4% efficiency
The panels measure 2,116 mm × 777 mm × 3.5 mm, weigh 5.6 kg, and have a temperature coefficient of -0.35% per degree Celsius.
ClearVue scores commercial first with solar glass tech
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.
Commercial systems support record rooftop solar installs
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.
ClearVue inks Australian manufacturing and distribution deal
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.
Master-slave technique for deploying parallel inverters in PV systems
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 unveils new three-phase inverters
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.
Bifacial PV on rooftops can provide energy yield gains of up to 22.6%
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.
Black Summer wildfires impaired solar output, caused financial losses up to $29 million, researchers find
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.
