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Haystacks, Australia’s first large-scale solar garden, to be built in the New South Wales Riverina region, has opened its solar “plots” to purchase for NSW households unable to install rooftop systems.

The University of Technology Sydney has outlined details of a solar PV project it says demonstrates the potential of commercial and industrial rooftop space for use as solar farms with benefits beyond satisfying the host building’s energy needs.

Australia has been provided with a glimpse of its renewable energy future with solar displacing coal as the number-one fuel source in the national electricity market for extended periods in recent days.

The Indian government’s PM KUSUM Scheme supports farmers in installing standalone solar pumps and solarizing existing grid-connected agriculture pumps.

The Queensland government has exceeded its own expectations with 200,000 PV panels installed at more than 900 schools across the state as part of a $168 million solar installation program designed to help slash electricity costs and cut carbon emissions.

Rooftop solar systems are cheaper then centralised ground mounted systems for remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory, a new report funded by ARENA and APVI has found. The report, however, did not examine the question of community benefit in its scope – something Alan Langworthy, who has long worked in energy in the NT, told pv magazine Australia is absolutely vital.

Indonesian remote islands are increasingly resorting to solar-plus-storage to cover most of their electricity demand. According to new research from LUT University, combining PV with batteries may help islands to cover around 60% of demand with renewable energy.

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.

New small-capacity solar power plants are being developed in Ukraine to avoid blackouts, which is helping businesses to stay afloat amid dire economic conditions.

Australian renewable energy tech start-up Okra Solar has raised $3 million to scale up distribution of its solar-based hardware and software solutions and electrify more than 290,000 off-grid homes in Nigeria in the next three years while expanding its operations in Haiti and other countries.