Residential PV

The continuing dominance of the small-scale solar sector and the great potential for regional and rural jobs are just some of the findings in the Clean Energy Council’s “Clean Energy At Work”, a first-of-its-kind extensive report into the current renewable energy workforce and its potential over the next 10-15 years.

Australia’s rooftop PV fleet continues to grow in the face of uncertainty surrounding the outbreak of the pandemic, posting another big month above 200 MW. Mega-household solar systems are growing in popularity, but retailers and installers can see the storm clouds gathering.

Okra Solar, the Aussie startup we last saw delivering solar mini-grids to remote communities via a shared ping-pong table, is emerging from Covid-19 lockdown with new investors and two new pieces of tech that will better enable solar energy access to the 900 million people around the world still lacking power.

The International Energy Agency has acknowledged dramatic falls in energy investment caused by the Covid-19 crisis but said renewables, including PV, offered an attractive proposition to investors as the dust settled, given their enticing economics and short turnaround times.

New research by digital services company, Accenture, finds global energy-utility executives feeling underprepared for the increasing frequency of extreme weather events caused by climate change. It’s time to expand the definition of reliability.

In 2019, renewables continued to undermine the dominance of coal on the Australian grid and surged on the back of a massive 46% year-on-year jump in solar power, according to the latest data from the federal Energy Department.

The Victorian Government’s Solar Homes program once threatened to cut a swath through the state’s solar installer base; now it’s found its feet and forms the framework for delivering $15.3 million in new funding to reduce emissions and costs to the state’s constituents.

Solar wholesaler BayWa r.e. is partnering with industry trainer Global Sustainable Energy Solutions (GSES) on training provision seeking to ameliorate a noticeable lack of quality control within the rapidly growing solar industry.

To help achieve its global-leading renewable energy target of 200% by 2040, the Tasmanian government has released the draft Renewable Energy Action Plan.

The unstoppable growth of Australia’s rooftop PV fleet continues to eat into the pie previously reserved for coal and gas, a new audit of the National Electricity Market shows. Meanwhile, the nation’s electricity consumption has remained mostly flat despite a Covid-19 pandemic-induced economic slowdown.