Installations

The Northern Territory government has doubled down on its support for the world’s biggest solar PV and storage project with parliament passing legislation that will facilitate the $30 billion-plus Sun Cable Australia-Asia PowerLink project which is expected to transform the region into a green industrial hub and establish a new energy export industry for Australia.

The switch has been flicked on what has been labelled one of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest rooftop solar PV systems with Queensland government-owned Yurika announcing an almost 5MW system installed atop the Logan Hyperdome Shopping Centre is now operational.

Two new solar farms in regional New South Wales are now delivering clean energy to the National Electricity Market with e-commerce giant Amazon announcing its first Australian utility-scale renewable energy investments and are now operational.

UK solar specialist Lightsource is developing a 150 MW solar park at a fishery in Budai, in Taiwan’s Chiayi county. Construction is expected to commence in June 2023.

Tata Power Solar has secured an engineering, procurement and construction contract for a 300 MW solar project under India’s Central Public Sector Undertaking scheme. The project, awarded by state-owned hydropower producer NHPC, will be located in the Indian state of Rajasthan.

Western Australia has been offered a glimpse of its energy future with the $35 million Project Symphony aggregating its first package of residentially generated energy and successfully participating in a simulated two-way Wholesale Electricity Market.

Australian renewable energy developer MPower has boosted its solar PV and energy storage portfolio, announcing it has finalised an $8 million transaction which will see it purchase the Lakeland Solar & Energy Storage Project in far north Queensland.

Norwegian startup Over Easy Solar AS is launching a vertical PV system for rooftop applications at this year’s Smarter E in Munich, Germany.

Some believe Australia has begun to tip over the “solar cliff,” reaching penetrations that are becoming disruptive to the balance of the grid and to the business models of solar companies themselves. Following notable exits from the market, alarm bells are ringing for solar companies to offer more than just solar installations, writes pv magazine’s Bella Peacock.

Singapore-headquartered solar manufacturer Maxeon Solar Technologies has declared it is moving “beyond the panel”, teaming with multinational battery manufacturer AlphaESS to develop integrated solar and energy storage solutions for the residential sector.