Markets

Mercedes Benz execs join Eguana Technologies to help drive Calgary-based business’ global expansion plans.

According to a new scorecard released by the Climate Council, Tasmania, the ACT and SA are leading the nation in renewable energy adoption, while WA and the NT are lagging at the back of the pack.

According to the Gold Member Solar Report by EnergyTrend (Q3 2018), monocrystalline module prices have fallen almost 20% this year, while those for polycrystalline modules have dropped by more than 25%. Increased consolidation among manufacturers and developers is expected to occur in China and the global solar market, with more merger deals, plans for capacity reductions and even factory closures.

The agency’s base case expects relatively flat growth in solar deployment over the next six years, but for solar to still dominate growth among renewable technologies. The agency’s estimates are again below those of major market analysts.

A snapshot of how politicians, scientists, institutions, industry, and civil servants have reacted to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, released yesterday.

As part of its electricity market reforms, the Northern Territory’s government has announced plans to review its solar feed-in tariffs in order to encourage the existing solar households to add battery storage. It has also greenlit the 25 MW Katherine solar park, the state’s largest solar PV farm to date.

A new report published by business consultants Frost & Sullivan expects around 90 GW of new solar installations by the end of 2018, in line with the predictions of other leading analysts. It further notes that PV remains the world leader in renewable energy capacity, and that markets are moving away from feed-in tariffs to make increasing use of auction models and private PPAs.

While much has been made of the ‘trilemma’ facing the Australia electricity network, Ray Wills from Future Smart Strategies argues that rapid change of energy technology, business models and social changes is resulting in rapid and difficult-to-predict changes.

At first glance, the European PV conference last week has confirmed the widespread view that the upswing of monocrystalline technology will accelerate. But a closer look reveals that multicrystalline solar cells are still in the game.

Despite lowering its 2018 sales and earning guidance, the German solar PV inverter manufacturer is moving forward with solutions, and is now looking to introduce a new three-phase string inverter to the Australian market. SMA says Australia has become one of its key PV markets.