SwitchDin to share Australian lessons with US-based VPP body
Energy management software company SwitchDin will share lessons learned during Australia’s ongoing transition to a two-way power grid with counterparts in the United States after teaming with a coalition of companies to scale up the use of virtual power plants.
Four global trends in solar and storage in 2023
A review of recent solar and storage related trends as seen by IHS Markit.
Weekend read: Puerto Rican resilience
Before Puerto Rico had a chance to recover from Hurricane Maria, in 2017, it was rocked by earthquakes and then, in September 2022, the island was struck again – this time by Hurricane Fiona. These disasters severely impacted Puerto Rico’s infamously fragile power grid, but have emboldened local communities to take power into their own hands through solar and battery storage, and increasingly in the form of microgrids. Compelled by catastrophic circumstances, Puerto Rico must now push toward energy resilience and in the process may see itself become a model not just for other islands, but mainland grids as well.
BIPV shading estimation methods key for uptake, says IEA-PVPS
A recently published report from the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme on building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) digitalisation found many industry professionals are unsure of a suitable method for estimating shading in BIPV projects.
OpenSolar to boost online PV platform capability with $22 million injection
Australian software company OpenSolar plans to speed the development of its free online solar design and sales platform and drive customer expansion globally after securing a funding injection of more than $22 million (USD 15 million).
Grant guidelines published for $200 million community battery scheme
The Australian government is taking the next steps to roll out 400 batteries in neighbourhoods across the country as part of the $200 million (USD 134 million) Community Batteries for Household Solar program.
Colour-sensing tech to remove dirt from solar panels
Researchers in South African have developed a new cleaning system for solar panels that uses a colour-sensing light-to-frequency converter to detect dirt. It can reportedly remove about 95% of the dust from a PV panel in less than a minute, at a lower cost than other systems.
Ranking the top 15 nations for solar energy capacity
Ranking the world’s largest producers of solar energy based on the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2022.
Ausgrid teams with Simply Energy on community battery trial
New South Wales network operator Ausgrid has signed an agreement with Simply Energy which will see the Melbourne-based energy retailer operate the electricity distribution company’s three community batteries in the National Energy Market.
PV system fires potentially exacerbated by gap between solar panels, rooftops
Norwegian researchers have published a new study showing that the space between solar panels and rooftop surfaces might play a critical role in contributing to PV system fires.
