Residential PV

Yolk Property Group has partnered with Power Ledger to implement blockchain technology at their Evermore development – powered by solar PV and battery storage technology – allowing residents of the 24 apartments to buy and sell solar power amongst themselves, thus ensuring considerable saving on residents’ electricity bills.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has briefed the National Party MPs on its recommendation to prematurely wind down taxpayer-funded incentives for sub-100kW solar systems by 2021.

With all eyes on the ACT cabinet, which remains unconvinced of the National Energy Guarantee as a complete policy solution beyond 2020, a new analysis of energy prices shows that ACT household power bills continue to rise. Solar owners, however, are largely insulated from bill shock.

An energy production and trading scheme designed for the Tonsley Innovation District in Adelaide will incorporate one of Australia’s largest rooftop solar arrays to provide energy to businesses and homes within the growing precinct.

The Western Australia government has signaled scrapping or winding back subsidies for rooftop solar, while looking for ways to boost battery uptake.

In what analysts worldwide are sure to look back on as the last golden period for global solar – at least for the immediate future – China saw more impressive figures for PV manufacturing in the first half of the year. Then the government stepped in.

Installer Natural Solar is equipping 12 homes in Sydney with rooftop PV and sonnen batteries, and will utilize blockchain technology to facilitate P2P trading of electricity between households. The mini virtual power plant (VPP) project will allow the homes to reduce their electricity demand from the grid by 90%.

In a wide ranging report released on Tuesday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has recommended scrapping the Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) – which provides a sizeable capital subsidy to small scale rooftop PV. The Smart Energy Council has criticised the proposal and called for the Federal Government to “rule out abolishing the SRES.”

This year, more than 200,000 small-scale solar systems are set to be installed in Australia. The extraordinary expansion in rooftop solar deployment has been revealed in the latest figures from Green Energy Markets, which points to more than 1.4 GW of sub-100kW PV being added throughout the year.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has completed its first smart meter technology financing, backing the expansion of intelliHUB, a joint venture between private equity investment firm Pacific Equity Partners and smart meter manufacturer Landis+Gyr.