Residential PV

The first million took 40 years, the second million took two years and the third million will arrive two years from now.

The latest figures from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) show that solar continues to eat into the share once firmly held by coal on the back of a dramatic increase in installations over the past 12 months. The trend was backed by energy storage facilities which continued to gain foothold as providers of frequency control and ancillary services, lowering overall costs in the first quarter of 2019.

The Beijing authorities have confirmed the payment levels to be made according to type of project and region from July onwards but an auction process will be involved so the figures are for guidance only. No decision has yet been made on the 30 GW of capacity added since the end of May.

Due to a jump in medium (+15kW) to large (+100kW) rooftop solar installations, there has been a dramatic increase in grid scale solar generation. This has contributed to renewables supplying monthly 14-15% of total generation since last November, an increase from 10-11% share this time last year, new research from The Australia Institute finds.

The first virtual power plant to be announced since the last year’s launch of the Home Battery Scheme in South Australia is picking up the pace with the addition of Eguana Technologies’ Evolve to the list of eligible energy storage systems.

California utility PG&E has tested levels of residential solar power up to 100% penetration, and how to mitigate the effects of voltage and thermal overload via smart inverters and traditional transformer and circuit upgrades — with smart inverters shown to allow for up to 100% penetration at cost-effective pricing.

A total of 238,000 advanced meters will be installed by Western Power on the South West Interconnected System over the next three years, unlocking the benefits of the technology that gives consumers more control over their energy use. In another rollout, Horizon Power has made paying for power easier for 11 Aboriginal communities across regional WA.

The EV, energy storage and solar company deployed only 47 MW of solar during Q1, as Tesla moves away from traditional sales methods towards web-based sales for its products.

Rooftop solar remained the biggest employer in the Australian renewable energy sector last financial year, but it was large-scale solar PV that stole the limelight as it emerged as the second largest contributor of direct full-time jobs.

The world had more than half a terawatt of PV generation capacity at the end of last year as emerging solar markets picked up the slack caused by Beijing’s subsidy about-turn to the tune of a 20% rise in installations outside China.