Residential PV

Earlier this year, Singapore surpassed its 2020 target for 350 MW of installed PV, and has set itself a more ambitious goal of 2 GW for the coming decade. pv magazine recently spoke with Thomas Reindl, deputy CEO of the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore (SERIS) – and also the lead author of a 2020 update to the institute’s PV Roadmap for Singapore report – to catch up on the latest developments in the city-state’s PV market.

As Green Finance begins to be seen more and more as global best practice the energy transition can only accelerate. This week, two stories attest to the growing acceptance of green finance by major financial institutions – ANZ Bank has pledged to extricate itself from thermal coal by 2030 and pursue more sustainable policies and Mike Cannon-Brookes supported startup Brighte announces Australia’s first 100% green asset-backed securitisation, $190 million in debt financing for Australians looking to uptake solar and battery storage in their home.

A report by Finnish company Wärtsilä has estimated the potential impact if every dollar committed to a non-renewables energy sector recovery was instead funnelled to clean power.

As Australia’s home battery market begins to catch up to its install residential solar capacity the opportunity for large-scale virtual power plants is verging on reality. Indeed, Solar Service Group’s new Solar + Battery Members’ Plan could see Australia host the world’s largest virtual power plant next year.

Rooftop solar installation figures in Victoria have plunged dramatically in recent months but an easing of Covid-19 restrictions has provided a welcome boost for the state’s small-scale solar installers.

In an effort to glean insights into the cost efficiency of sustainable housing, the Western Australian government in conjunction with private partners this week launched an Affordability Experiment home.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency is chipping in over $700,000 to help Frasers Property Australia build 51 energy efficient homes complete with a solar embedded network. The idea is to demonstrate to the wider housing sector that energy efficient homes can be built at scale and be cost-effective to the customer.

The advance of PV has been lauded by the International Energy Agency as it launched the latest edition of a flagship World Energy Outlook 2020 report overshadowed by the Covid-19 crisis and uncertainty over how long the economic recovery could take.

The Western Australian Government’s Energy Transformation Taskforce has revealed its first blueprint for the isolated state’s energy system transformation over the next two decades. The blueprint, which features four separate models, sees rooftop solar and accompanying battery storage excel in the coming years, although it suggests coal-fired power will still have a large presence.

Smart Energy is one of Australia’s most creative and fastest growing solar companies, largely thanks to a compassionate business plan which came into its own since the outbreak of covid-19. The various lockdowns and increased electricity bills have driven an accelerated uptick in residential solar and Smart Energy co-founder Elliot Haynes sat down with pv magazine Australia to talk about this unprecedented period.