Installations

Four years ago in December 2015, every member of the United Nations met in Paris and agreed to hold global temperature increases to 2°C, and as close as possible to 1.5°C. The bad news is that four years on the best that we can hope for is holding global increases to around 1.75°C. We can only do that if the world moves decisively towards zero net emissions by the middle of the century.

The Smart Energy Hub can operate in electrolysis mode to store renewable energy as hydrogen, or in fuel cell mode to produce electricity and heat from previously produced hydrogen or methane. Its developers are the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission and start-up Sylfen.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) expects to see further declines in Marginal Loss Factors (MLFs) next financial year on a number of grid-scale PV projects, primarily in south-west News South Wales and north-west Victoria.

The second stage of the first grid-scale solar plant in Australia, the Greenough River Solar Farm, will deploy German power electronics, with SMA announcing it has picked up a contract to supply the 30 MW development.

The Victorian government has extended its solar battery rebate from the initial 24 to 104 postcodes. Meanwhile, the demand for solar panel rebates has slightly slowed down.

Australia’s rooftop PV has become the country’s biggest potential energy resource. To harness it requires that millions of household and commercial generators cede control of their hard-won, sunny patch. A new research entity has been launched to understand energy consumers’ passions and motivators, and facilitate a fair and equitable social contract — no pressure!

Hybrid home battery/inverter systems were the hot ticket at All Energy Australia last month. Those that provide back-up capacity will change the lives of people living in blackout-prone areas.

It may come as a volt from the blue, but solar PV still has enormous unexplored potential. With the help of a globally renowned startup accelerator, a team from UNSW’s famous photovoltaics division is taking solar generation out of the ‘burbs and into the urban jungle.

The latest figures released by BloombergNEF show new solar and onshore wind power plants have reached parity with average wholesale prices in California, China and parts of Europe. The technologies are winning the race to be the cheapest sources of new generation for two-thirds of the world’s population.

Australian manufacturer RedEarth has announced a new energy storage system for the Australian commercial and industrial market using technology from the global engineering and technology company, Siemens.