Residential PV

Annual battery storage installations will exceed 10 GW/28 GWh in 2021, following a particularly strong year in 2020, despite the challenges created by the global pandemic, writes IHS Markit analyst Mike Longson. Combined solar and storage will be a core focus for new deployment in 2021, as the front-of-the-meter and behind-the-meter energy storage markets are both expected to grow significantly in the months ahead.

South Australia’s electricity distributor SA Power Networks has announced plans to introduce new ‘flexible’ export limits for rooftop solar PV in some areas of the state in a bid to manage the growing amount of distributed energy resources and associated network congestion.

India had installed 6.8 GW of cumulative rooftop PV capacity by the end of 2020, with consumer-owned systems accounting for about 72% of the total, according to Bridge to India.

Pandemic uncertainties have concentrated key solar players and “heightened competition for ‘survival of the fittest'”, says JinkoSolar Chairman and CEO Xiande Li. The company’s latest figures show it is well placed in Australia and in the global arena.

Concerned that a lack of understanding in the community is hindering the uptake of rooftop solar, a New South Wales local council has struck an agreement with the Australian Energy Foundation in a bid to demystify solar PV and battery energy storage systems.

Commercial installation and service provider Solar Professionals will install almost 3 MW of solar PV across the rooftops of more than 800 homes in New South Wales after landing a new contract with the Aboriginal Housing Office (AHO).

Victorian-based property developer Beulah has announced its soon-to-be-completed Paragon tower in the heart of Melbourne will be home to the nation’s largest and most efficient vertical solar PV system.

Tasmanian Labor believes Premier Peter Gutwein and his Liberal Party have dropped the ball on solar in a big way. Tasmanian Labor Leader Rebecca White is therefore promising $20 million to fund loans for residential and commercial solar and battery storage installations, as well as solar for state schools and social housing.

The latest set of clean energy statistics compiled by the International Renewable Energy Agency signal a changing of the guard when it comes to clean power, with legacy hydropower facilities overtaken by new intermittent renewables.

“If I only had a brain …” Smart digital technology enables electricity substations to deliver greater reliability of operation and more consistent grid stability with increasing integration of renewable energy sources.