Markets

Few doubt that aluminium frames will be a part of the solar module for some time to come. And with PV manufacturing continuing to scale, the carbon footprint of this versatile metal may prove a sustainability challenge.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has outlined a $3.5 billion strategy to shore up Victoria’s electricity transmission network and system security as the state accelerates towards the legislated target of 50% renewables by 2030.

As Victorians fly out of lockdown and into the thick of summer the solar industry is preparing for the release of pent-up demand for solar which was hungered for during lockdown but went unsatisfied. pv magazine Australia sat down with AC Solar Warehouse’s Grant Behrendorff to gauge the backlog of installations and talk shop in the approach to a bumper summer.

On Tuesday 13th October 2020 Queensland’s electricity spiked from approximately $25/MWh to $15,000/MWh (the current market price cap) in response to a tripping incident involving the constraint of 11 solar farms and one wind farm. The event is being seen as illustrative of just what needs to be addressed in the design of NEM 2.0.

It remains unclear why Chairman Jin Baofang was detained, but the company said its operations will not be affected. The Paper, a Chinese state-owned media outlet, reported that Jin’s detention might be connected to the fall of Liu Baohua, the formal deputy director of the National Energy Administration, which has also been under investigation by the anti-corruption authorities since mid-October.

In an Australian first, newly re-elected Premier of Queensland Annastacia Palaszczuk has established a ministry for hydrogen in her new government. The move comes amidst a raft of recent hydrogen related policies throughout Australia and reinforces the nation’s determination to lead the global race for a hydrogen economy.

A groundswell of support for renewable energy has swept across the nation and world in the past week with Joe Biden’s victory in the United States followed by the unveiling of the NSW government’s ambitious renewables roadmap and the tabling of independent Zali Steggall’s Climate Change Act. The shifting Zeitgeist coincides with analysis showing record high shares of renewables in the National Energy Network (NEM) are displacing fossil fuels, ultimately cutting the country’s emissions more than the Covid-19 pandemic.

PV modules are being sold with ever longer warranties, but when modules underperform or fail, making claims on those warranties is rarely straightforward. So are the warranties worth the paper they’re written on? Where does this leave installers? And how can this liability be mitigated?

“We need a ‘deployment’ energy secretary,” Generate Capital President Jigar Shah said several years ago. “One who understands how entrepreneurs move from research to revenue. One who understands the difference between venture capital and project finance.”

Biden has made a long list of promises and commitments to the environment and future of clean energy if elected. Which of these promises could we see immediate action on and which are years down the line?