Installations

Both solar and the farming industry are beginning to see potential in the combined use of land for food production and energy generation. And as innovators begin to experiment with different forms, it’s becoming clear that in most cases it is solar that will have to bend to the needs of agriculture, and not the other way around, to ensure a positive outcome.

Safety when transporting solar PV modules from warehouse to job site is an ongoing issue for installers but one Queensland solar company has designed and manufactured a simple yet effective racking system that helps allay those concerns.

Victorian electricity distributors Powercor and Citipower are setting out to alleviate grid congestion in area of high solar penetration, particularly in Western Victoria. The works are designed to increase the ability of rooftop solar owners to export solar to the grid amid the continuing uptake of residential solar.

Mars Australia has signed a massive power purchase agreement with Victoria’s largest solar farm, Total Eren’s Kiamal Solar Farm, to offset 100% of its electricity with solar power. The confectioner has six factories and two offices in Australia which used over 850 GWh of energy in 2020, energy supplied by solar from now on.

Chinese inverter maker Sungrow revealed a 350 MW solar facility was energised in Loc Ninh County, Binh Phuoc Province. The project secured a FiT of $0.0709 per kWh.

The facility is expected to be located in the state of Ceará and to be powered by around 3.6 GW of wind and solar facilities located in the region. The project developer is Australia-based Enegix Energy.

Why do you almost never hear about prosecutions for illegal phoenix activity? Why do some Approved Solar Retailers behave so badly? And what remains of Australian solar’s cowboy history?

EDF and Oceanus plan to build a pumped hydro storage station and a desalination system powered by wind and solar. The system will use saltwater to produce hydropower during periods of high demand, while producing affordable freshwater.

Australia’s infrastructure advisory body has added a number of renewable energy-related projects to its priority list, recognising the need for investment in the “once-in-a-lifetime transition from thermal generation to intermittent renewables.”

Iron ore giant Fortescue Metals Group’s ambitious Fortescue Future Industries wants to build a renewable energy portfolio of more than 235 GW. The ambition, combined with the apparently bullish effort of Fortescue executives in recent months, has garnered headlines, and now Fortescue has announced former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and former National Intelligence chief Nick Warner as part of its team.