Battery No. 5 is alive! WA’s DER Roadmap unfolds
Seaside sunshine is a hallmark of the Western Australian regional city of Busselton. Now a number of residents will be able to access a community battery to better manage their solar generation for use during the starry nights.
Low-cost direct solar-to-hydrogen ambitions see the light
The road to cheap hydrogen production is riddled with potholes and energy losses. One Australian team of researchers has shown that rethinking solar technology and skipping electrolysers holds great promise for attaining the hydrogen grail.
Solar proves a sanctuary from Covid-19 energy bill shock
Nationwide analysis from Natural Solar’s live monitoring systems shows a 105% increase in Aussie household electricity in Q1 2020 as compared to 2019, a spike resulting from the lockdown implications of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, many Australians, like the 100% of Mulpha’s ‘Smart City’ buyers in Sydney’s North-West, will be buffeted from bill spikes thanks to home solar and energy storage systems.
Supply chain concerns will drive EV battery recycling policies
With electric vehicles starting to gain traction, the International Energy Agency’s updated, ten-year e-mobility forecast has suggested geopolitical and economic concerns will trump environmental niceties when it comes to encouraging recycling. But what price ever-cheaper batteries?
WoodMac: Australia’s energy storage capacity to more than double in 2020
According to new research from Wood Mackenzie, Australia is set to add 1.2 GWh of energy storage capacity in 2020, more than double the 499 MWh installed in 2019.
New Battery Performance Standard proposed for Australia, and possibly the world
A new Battery Performance Standard for residential and small-scale commercial applications has finally been submitted to Standards Australia. If adopted, the standard could clarify consumer confusion around which energy storage system is right for them.
QLD Govt backs renewable energy hub to empower western economies
The Palaszczuk Government is helping to fund a feasibility study into the proposed Barcaldine Renewable Energy Hub, a project with the potential to revolutionise the economy of the state’s south-west and turbo-charge the post-Covid-19 economic recovery.
Australia becomes first market outside Europe to receive Ikea’s full home solar offer
Ikea has launched its turnkey home solar offer in Australia, making it the first market outside Europe that can purchase a home solar kit from its website. Ikea has partnered with Solargain to try and bring solar to as many Australian rooftops as possible.
VIC MP lambasts Melbourne-centric Solar Homes program
Nationals’ Victoria Murray Plains MP Peter Walsh has launched a criticism of the Labor Andrews Government Solar Homes program for its alleged Melbourne-centrism in overlooking his electorate entirely in relation to his battery storage rebate.
Historic-low interest rates will power ahead astonishing solar cost reductions
An Ieefa report has suggested the cost of generating electricity from solar will be near zero in the world’s sunniest regions by 2030-40 – despite what the naysayers at the International Energy Agency might think.
