Installations

The Australian utility-scale PV and wind industries have just gone through a record two years of construction and commissioning. More specifically, writes Rystad Energy’s David Dixon, utility-scale PV has transformed from a megawatt-scale market to one measured in gigawatts. The resultant boom in utility-scale PV in the country has attracted developers, EPCs and OEMs, from at home and across the globe.

Lightsource BP has signed financing agreements to develop its first utility-scale solar project in Australia. The 200 MW solar farm, near Wellington, New South Wales, is the largest single plant to be financed by the U.K. solar developer to date and one of the biggest projects in Australia to use bifacial PV.

Welcome to Australia’s largest national showcase of renewable energy at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Follow pv magazine live to keep updated on the latest Aussie solar PV and storage developments and trends from this year’s event, as they happen. Stay tuned!

Australia’s rooftop segment is a world beater. But there remain problems with quality, and installations and the components not living up to some of the claims of suppliers, says SMA’s John Susa. The Executive Vice President Global Sales and Service for the company is in Melbourne for All-Energy Australia and he says it‘s time for real-world performance of components to live up to claims on their data sheets.

German inverter giant SMA Solar Technology reports that the Australian large scale solar market has exceeded its expectations in 2019, as big PV projects continue to move forward despite regulatory uncertainty. Boris Wolff, SMA Executive Vice President for utility scale and projects considers Australia a “blueprint” market for the company’s expanded modeling and grid connection services.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has undertaken a review on how Australia compares with other international power systems and suggested that the theoretical limits on wind and solar penetration may need to be defined with an eye on the power system stability.

SolarEdge, one of the world’s foremost solar inverter companies, has announced its shift toward electric vehicles (EVs) with the release of its EV charging single phase inverter.

SMA has introduced a firmware update to its inverter range that will take whole or partially shaded modules out of the power output equation. The SMA ShadeFix feature is active as of September and the company promises it will assist rooftop PV array perform optimally in the event of partial shading from trees or rooftop structures like chimneys.

Electricity is the single biggest cost incurred in the winemaking process. Looking to save on bills, and save the environment, wineries across Australia are rapidly up-taking solar PV.

The NSW Solar for Low Income Households trial announced last year began this week with room for up to 3,000 successful applicants to enjoy the significant savings to household electricity bills provided by a rooftop solar PV installation.