Installations

After another year of record rooftop solar installations, and despite Covid-19 related lockdowns and federal political ineptitude on a level comparable to self-sabotage, Australia has soared past the three million mark and the numbers are only accelerating.

Embarrassing Australia on the world stage is one of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s favourite marketing ploys. But while the federal government continues to fail its constituents, particularly those in rural communities, those rural communities themselves are taking the energy transition into their own hands, along with the ownership of their own solar generation.

It all started with Sun Metals 124 MWac solar farm. Once at risk of having its exports curtailed to zero, its owners have now been funded by three Australian government agencies to seed demand for North Queensland’s green hydrogen.

EleXsys Energy’s technology enables the controlled flow of excess energy from distributed rooftop-solar generators — think large C&I organisations and microgrid-united regional townships— to help stabilise global grids as they increasingly transition to renewables. The world could feel the positives of mass transition to solar within five years.

Across Australia businesses understand the many pluses of running on renewable energy. The Sustainable Australia Fund helps them achieve multiple business ambitions by offering flexible finance for solar, battery storage and energy efficiency measures.

Developed by Spanish scientists, the proposed system design is said to be able to achieve water temperatures above 70 degrees Celsius and to cover around 85% of the annual sanitary hot water consumption of a household with six people.

Yes, Australia is blessed with an incredible solar resource, but it will be diminished and returns localised by global warming.

Dutch renewables company Photon Energy has announced it will build “the world’s largest” solar-plus-storage project to date, teaming with Australian technology provider and project developer RayGen Resources to develop a facility that will deliver 300 MW of solar generation and 3.6 GWh of energy storage.

The Australian mining industry’s transition towards renewable-powered operations continues with Pilbara Minerals appointing Contract Power Australia to install and operate a 6 MW solar farm at its Pilgangoora Lithium Project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

Solar Philippines will tap stock market investors to back the first section of a solar project in Luzon it says will eventually be the largest in the region.