Installations

GFG Alliance head Sanjeev Gupta has announced a high-cost refurbishment plan for the Whyalla Steelworks in South Australia marking a major step towards his goal to power the plant with green hydrogen.

Nationals’ Victoria Murray Plains MP Peter Walsh has launched a criticism of the Labor Andrews Government Solar Homes program for its alleged Melbourne-centrism in overlooking his electorate entirely in relation to his battery storage rebate.

The Australian Competition Tribunal is currently hearing arguments on a proposed code that would apply to the ‘buy now pay later’ sales practices of solar panel and installations. It is being argued that the practices are a form of predatory lending.

A newcomer to the Australian renewable energy scene, Austrom Hydrogen has unveiled plans to develop a large solar project, battery storage and hydrogen generation facility in Queensland.

By scanning millions of iterations, pvDesign finds the best plant configuration and automatically generates over 300 pages of detailed documentation in seconds. The Spanish firm has just landed its first Australian client.

Yesterday I received a call from the people at pv magazine who were preparing for the ‘Virtual Roundtables Europe 2020’ event on this week in Germany – i.e. Tuesday evening (now!) and Wednesday evening ‘NEM time’. I’m told the event will be recorded, with the recording available later to those who have registered, so get your skates on if interested.

Rugby League legend Johnathan Thurston signed on to become Australia’s first solar ambassador last year. The former Kangaroo’s half-back represents the joy, strength and peace of mind residential solar is bringing to Aussie families.

UNSW solar scientist Matt Edwards is passionate about making solar accessible and using it to displace reliance on diesel in our region. As CEO of startup BlueVolt, he’s “pretty stoked” that his Savo Solar Initiative has won the support of an international foundation, famous for seeding solar projects all over the world.

As utilities, networks and governments get their distributed-resource ducks in a row, the time is ripe for VPPs and microgrids to play a more powerful role in Australia’s energy system. The latest? SwitchDin, a DER innovator with globally acknowledged capabilities has attracted investment from Q Cells a PV manufacturer with chops and channels.

One of Australia’s first utility-scale PV projects, the 53 MW Broken Hill Solar Farm in New South Wales, has emerged as a top solar performer in the National Electricity Market in May.