Residential PV

Scientists in Australia have developed an optimisation framework for building-integrated photovoltaics that allows the selection of design variables according to user preferences. Their model considers PV-related features such as tilt angle, window-to-wall ratio (WWR), PV placement, and PV product type, as well as objective functions and constraints such as the net present value and the payback period.

More than 3 million Australian households and small businesses have voluntarily installed rooftop solar systems but a local council in New South Wales is looking to mandate the continued rollout, investigating the potential for all new homes built in its region to be required to have solar PV panels on the roof.

Chinese manufacturer Bslbatt has unveiled a modular lithium-ion battery that can be used for the off-grid storage of solar energy. The device has a storage capacity ranging from 5.1 to 30.7 kWh and is claimed to provide steady operation for up to 6,000 charge cycles.

One of Australia’s largest residential and commercial solar PV retailers and installers has announced it will exit the market, declaring low margins and once-in-a-generation disruptions to the supply chain brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic have taken a toll.

South Australia will extend its ‘Switch for Solar’ program in which eligible low-income residents can opt to have a solar system installed in exchange for their next ten years of government concession payments.

Australia has hit a historic milestone, reaching 25GW of installed solar. As the Australian PV Institute noted on Monday, that’s more solar per capita than anywhere else in the world.

Western Australia will today introduce new curtailment rules which will allow for all new and upgraded solar PV and battery energy storage installations with an inverter capacity of 5 kW or less to be remotely turned down or switched off in emergency situations.

Renewable energy production reached record highs in Australia in 2021 with new data from the Climate Council revealing clean technologies including rooftop solar and utility scale PV supplied five times more power into the nation’s largest electricity grid than gas.

Researchers in Italy are combining PV with latent heat thermal storage (LHTM) and other renewable energy sources to maximize clean energy consumption in buildings. The 47kW PV array and LHTM system work independently, but the scientists said that a heat pump could be used to link them.

The Western Australian coastal town of Kalbarri can now be powered by an entirely renewable energy solution utilising rooftop solar and wind generation coupled with battery storage with state government-owned utility Western Power confirming the state’s largest renewable energy microgrid has been commissioned.