Installations

Islandable microgrids are a growing niche, especially in remote regions at the end of electricity networks or parts of the world prone to natural disasters and outages. Renewably powered microgrids can provide a community with more stability and operate independently, so vulnerable regions are not reliant on distant sources of generation, as was the case during Australia’s Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20, when communities were left powerless. From California to Australia’s southern coast, the study and deployment of microgrids is on the rise. pv magazine’s Blake Matich takes a look.

Six new solar farm projects totalling 623 MW of renewable capacity and four big batteries delivering up to 365 MW and 600 MWh of new energy storage have been given the tick of approval by the Victorian government as it looks to meet its target of powering all its operations with clean energy by 2025.

Smart technology that controls energy flow on power grids could soon be the norm in the Northern Territory with a trial launched in the outback town of Alice Springs that will test the economic and energy efficiency of a rooftop solar-driven virtual power plant.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences has switched on a 100 MW compressed air energy storage system in China’s Hebei province. The facility can store more than 132 million kWh of electricity per year.

India’s cumulative residential rooftop solar capacity may rise by 60% to reach 3.2 GW by March 31, 2023 driven by rising consumer demand coupled with strong government support.

Developers recently commissioned two different wine-related agrivoltaic projects in Europe.

Australian gold miner Bellevue Gold has entered an agreement with distributed energy provider Energy Developments Pty Ltd for an off-grid solar, wind, and battery hybrid power station for the flagship project it is developing in central Western Australia.

New South Wales has today opened the first in what’s to be a decade of rolling tenders, part of the state’s momentous vision of fitting out 12 GW of renewable energy capacity and 2 GW of storage by 2030.

Multiple factors affect the productive lifespan of a residential solar panel. In the first part of this series, we look at the solar panels themselves.

Adani Green’s newest project includes 600 MW of solar and 150 MW of wind capacity in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It will sell the electricity to Solar Energy Corp. of India under a 25-year power purchase agreement at a rate of INR 2.69/kWh (AU$0.051/kWh)