Commercial & Industrial PV

With the spike in global energy prices sparking increased interest in renewable technologies, the Royal Automobile Association of South Australia has expanded its solar PV and battery energy storage offerings through the acquisition of Adelaide-based installer Living Energy and Lovell Electrical.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has declared approximately $12.7 billion of investment in new transmission lines should begin “as urgently as possible” to accelerate the transition to renewable energy and energy storage, replace exiting coal-fired power plants, and deliver a more efficient and effective grid in eastern and south-eastern Australia.

Alion Energy trackers thread the return-on-investment needle with productivity gains from white roofs and bifacial modules, while design aggressively maximises module count.

New research from Lappeenranta University of Technology shows that there is no single correct orientation for a PV installation.

The Northern Territory’s Desert Knowledge Australia Solar Centre will soon play host to a large-scale battery energy storage system which is expected to facilitate the transformation of the multi-technology solar testing facility into a local microgrid.

Resources giant Rio Tinto has officially opened what it is calling its most technologically advanced mine in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The Gudai-Darri iron ore mine features a 34 MW solar farm capable of meeting one-third of the facility’s energy needs.

In many parts of the world, project developers and owners are increasingly looking to floating PV as the next long-term growth market in utility-scale solar. Gian Schelling, global business development manager for Hitachi Energy, says that PV-on-water can rise above the current challenges it faces by drawing on the lessons learned from offshore wind development.

Sydney-based solar company Solaray Energy says its inquiries have doubled since the federal election, rebounding back to the record demand seen in 2020 ad 2021. Moreover, the company’s director and co-founder Jonathan Fisk says interest in batteries is “making solar fly,” with half of the potential new customers looking to add storage.

Selected projects will be awarded a fixed rate under a 20-year contract under the country’s renewable energy certificate (REC) scheme and will sell electricity to local power distributors.

Australia’s uptake of rooftop solar is one of the highest in the world with more than 30% of free-standing households across the nation now fitted with a PV system but the Clean Energy Regulator has revealed a “steep decline” in the number of installations in early 2022 with deteriorating economics playing a major part.