Residential PV

The debate around what’s become known as Australia’s “solar tax” has rounded a new corner, with the Australian Energy Regulator publishing its draft guidelines for solar export tariffs.

For just shy of a week leading up to December 29, South Australia sourced an average of 101% of its electricity demand from renewable energy.

Compiled by an international research group, the best practices were collected from all available guidelines published by national agencies, regulatory bodies, and trade associations.

Current price signals to distributed battery owners “do not align with grid value,” says a study from the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

This year will see a suite of new rules introduced governing the sale and installation of rooftop solar. While the Clean Energy Regulator’s new rules will apply across the country, Victoria’s state government has also introduced its own set of additional ordinances – among them, a ban on door-to-door sales or cold-calling for solar, electricity and gas companies alike.

Renewable energy and battery storage has racked up another banner year in 2021, according to end-of-year analysis from Rystad Energy. While there was growth across segments, residential solar has seen the most impressive gains, surpassing the commercial and industrial (C&I) segment for the year.

Indigenous communities have some of the most unreliable, expensive power in Australia, with a recent study finding almost three quarters of households in remote Northern Territory communities lost power more than 10 times, often for significant periods on “dangerously” hot days. Alarmingly, regulations have until now completely blocked communities in public housing from connecting rooftop solar because they use a prepaid meter system.

Western Australian renewable energy company Plico Energy’s bold ambition to develop a grid-scale virtual power plant has received a major financial boost with Swiss investment firm SUSI Partners committing to provide capital for the rollout of 10,000 integrated solar-plus-battery systems.

Perth-based Hybrid Systems Australia has opened its new much-expanded facility in the Western Australian capital ahead of significant expansion in the outlay of its stand-alone power systems to regional and remote parts of the state.

China is once again the focus of attention across the global solar PV industry. The country’s manufacturers have had a turbulent 2021, but domestic demand remains strong, particularly from the booming residential rooftop segment. Despite the supply challenges, China will likely reach 50 GW this year and possibly even 100 GW next year. Given the dynamic market and policy landscape, pv magazine publisher Eckhart K. Gouras recently caught up with long-time China solar expert Frank Haugwitz, the founder of the Asia Europe Clean Energy (Solar) Advisory (AECEA).