Residential PV

Australian energy regulators have called for urgent investments in renewable energy capacity and the transmission infrastructure needed to connect new projects to the grid as they look to ensure an orderly transition as coal-fired generation exits the National Electricity Market.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has launched a $62 billion energy and jobs plan, which includes the biggest pumped hydro scheme in the world. The government is also planning to convert publicly owned coal-fired power stations into clean energy hubs from 2027.

A new $8 million large-scale, network-connected battery at Tanby on Queensland’s Capricorn Coast is expected to help facilitate the continued integration of renewables, including rooftop solar PV, into the state’s energy system.

Victoria’s ongoing transition to renewable energy sources, including the installation of hundreds of thousands of rooftop solar PV systems, has helped the state “smash” its 2020 emission reduction targets on the path to net zero by 2050.

A new report published by the International Energy Agency shows solar PV provided employment for approximately 3.4 million people in 2021 with almost half of the workers employed in China, about 280,000 in North America, over 260,000 in Europe, and some 50,000 in Africa. The vast majority of workers were employed in manufacturing and installation of new capacity, with solar jobs paying lower wage premiums than the nuclear, oil, and gas industries.

Seven solar installers in New South Wales have had their electrical contractor licences stripped by the state government regulator after investigations found they had signed off on rooftop PV installations while they were interstate or overseas.

Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator has this week executed search warrants on several residential and commercial addresses connected to a Perth-based solar PV retail and installation business as part of an investigation into a potential $1.5 million solar panel fraud.

American investment behemoth BlackRock has agreed to acquire New Zealand rooftop solar PV and battery energy storage specialist SolarZero as part of its push into renewable energy in the Asia Pacific region.

Solar capacity in the United States is expected to grow from 129 GW today to 336 GW by 2027, according to the country’s Solar Energy Industries Association and research firm Wood Mackenzie.

The International Energy Agency says that the deployment of 600 million heat pumps by 2030 could cover 20% of the annual heating requirements of buildings throughout the world.