Installations

More than 6,000 homes and businesses in Western Australia’s Kimberley now have the option to install rooftop PV with regional energy provider Horizon Power confirming that its Smart Connect Solar technology that removes network hosting capacity constraints is now available in the town of Broome.

Chinese solar and storage technology manufacturer Sungrow has announced the launch in Australia of a new hybrid three-phase inverter and battery energy storage solution for use in residential and small-scale commercial and industrial applications.

The federal and state governments are stepping up their investments as they seek to deliver the army of skilled workers required to build the solar and wind farms, rooftop solar, battery storage and transmission infrastructure needed to achieve Australia’s renewable energy and emissions targets.

An ‘Australian first’ demonstration of aggregated flexible demand in residential settings will be rolled out in South Australia with the state’s principle electricity distributor to deliver smart energy upgrades for 500 households as part of a pilot program that aims to coordinate power usage to better support the grid.

Western Australian regional energy provider Horizon Power has activated a 364 kW roof-mounted solar system atop the Derby Regional Hospital in the state’s northwest that is expected to reduce the facility’s mains grid annual energy consumption by almost 25%.

Sourcing solar and energy storage locally will reduce some supply chain risks but it also opens the door to a new set of questions for prospective investors. Here, pv magazine takes a look at the United States market that could provide lessons for Australia as it seeks to build a domestic solar manufacturing industry.

A team of Australian researchers has developed multi-stage algorithms they say can remotely detect and accurately diagnose underperforming solar panels in residential and commercial PV systems.

Australian-headquartered real estate group and fund manager Dexus has commenced the roll out of more than $25 million worth of battery energy storage systems coupled with rooftop solar at its new warehouses as it looks to future-proof its investment portfolio.

State-owned energy utility Synergy has awarded the construction and balance of plant contract for the 500 MW / 2,000 MWh Collie battery energy storage system being built in Western Australia’s southwest.

New data from market firm SunWiz shows Australian households and businesses installed a further 262 MW of solar on their rooftops during the month of April, pushing the year-to-date total up 7% on the corresponding time last year.