Residential PV

Scientists utilising data gathered at the Northern Territory’s Desert Knowledge Australia Solar Centre have created a novel probabilistic model for five-minutes ahead PV power forecasting. The method combines a convolutional neural network with bidirectional long short-term memory, attention mechanism, and natural gradient boosting.

BloombergNEF reports the world installed nearly 600 GW of solar power in 2024, closely aligning with projections that annual global solar installations will surpass 1 TW within the next few years. Although projections for 2025 currently fall short of that pace, early forecasts often underestimate actual deployment.

New Zealand’s Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko has reported the country’s solar generation reached an all-time high in March of 128 MW but say that’s likely to be surpassed when three new large-scale farms come online during 2025.

Australia’s solar rollout continues to reach new heights with a combined total of 4.7 GW of small- and large-scale PV installed across the country in 2024 but shifts in the rooftop market suggests diversification of services will be key for the nation’s installer community going forward.

Renewable energy asset management outfit Omnidian has strengthened its presence in the Australian market with the acquisition of Queensland-based PV installer and service provider Solar Service Guys.

AusNet has connected the first stand-alone community battery to its Victorian electricity distribution network with a 120 kW / 300 kWh energy storage system now helping the Yarra Junction community make better use of locally generated solar energy.

Australia’s rooftop solar uptake continued to surge in 2024 with a new report revealing more than 300,000 PV systems with a combined capacity of almost 3 GW were bolted on to the roofs of homes and businesses across the nation last year.

Researchers have found that widespread deployment of rooftop solar could cover the vast majority of the world’s electricity consumption, while lowering global temperatures by up to 0.13 degrees Celsius.

VoltX Energy has reported seeing a record 500% spike in demand for solar battery storage in the past 12 months, expanding from New South Wales into Queensland and the South Australian markets, to keep up with demand.

Rystad Energy research has forecast Australia’s 82% renewable energy by 2030 target, will fall short by 17% under what they describe as the most optimistic scenarios, with gas being a key to energy security and transition.