Installations

The deal will see the U.S. technology company supply its smart microinverters as part of an RACV initiative to enhance its current residential and commercial solar offerings.

‘First Solar, at its core, is a technology and module manufacturing company,’ said Mark Widmar, chief executive of the U.S. company.

Many more renewable generators than originally thought are in a holding pattern as a result of oscillation problems in the weak-grid, high-resource area known as the West Murray. State Governments, AEMO and the renewables industry have hunkered down to find solutions that will also find application elsewhere in the grid as connection fever mounts.

The debate now stewing in the Australian Parliament around the viability and cost of setting a target of net-zero emissions by 2050 is again proving a case of too little vision applied too late. A new forum casts all participants as “leaders” and as it seeks to accelerate emissions reduction opportunities today.

A report published by the Rocky Mountain Institute makes recommendations for rooftop PV in regions affected by high winds. The study draws on the knowledge of structural engineers asked to analyze 25 solar systems across five Caribbean islands after they were hit by major hurricanes in 2017 and last year.

A world-class research and development hub planned for Cairns will be home to a supercomputer that will be used to simulate and model intricate networks in order to enable renewable energy and energy storage to form a greater part of microgrids and isolated systems for remote communities.

The Meekatharra Solar Consortium is a spirited community initiative in the West Australian Outback town of Meekathurra. The Consortium has installed solar PV across two turn-of-the-century buildings and intends to share the solar power with the community.

A new venture funded by the Cannon-Brookes family is looking to install stand-alone solar and battery systems at up to 100 sites around Australia affected by recent bushfires and floods.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has approved the construction of a large-scale solar PV and battery energy storage system for its Koodaideri mine in Western Australia. When completed, the solar plant will be in the running for Australia’s largest PV installation at a mining site.

PXiSE says its microgrid controller technology is successfully managing the output of a solar farm and a grid-scale battery in coordination with a gas power station in the coastal town of Onslow. It now readies for the next stages of deployment of its software solution across Horizon Power’s network.