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As the federal election campaign slowly grinds to a halt, one thing is indisputable: climate change has emerged as the make or break issue in this year’s election. The main parties have come up with a wide range of policies, but some are more supportive of the green energy sector than the others.

The Hi-MO 4 offers power ratings up to 430 watts, with module efficiencies as high as 19.2%, as the latest high-powered module to hit the floor at Intersolar Europe.

Solar-plus-storage could be competitive against gas peaking power plants in Australia within the next five years, as the average solar-plus-storage LCOE across the Asia-Pacific region is set to fall from $133/MWh this year to $101/MWh by 2023, according to a newly released research report.

The European solar trade body expects 128 GW of new PV capacity in 2019, with China likely to bring around 43 GW online and Europe experiencing enough demand to deploy about 20.4 GW. In 2020, global solar demand is expected to reach 144 GW, while in the following three years new PV additions are forecast to total 158 GW, 169 GW and 180 GW, respectively.

The Queensland government has signed into law a controversial regulation for solar farms larger than 100 kW, which requires mounting, locating, fixing and removal of PV panels at solar farms to only be undertaken by licensed electricians. The move comes despite warnings that the new rules will put hundreds of local jobs at risk and could bring some projects to a standstill.

The German energy storage provider has begun shipping batteries produced in the former Holden factory in Adelaide’s north to New Zealand. Sonnen batteries will be available exclusively through the manufacturer’s local partner, Taspac Energy.

The first million took 40 years, the second million took two years and the third million will arrive two years from now.

The latest figures from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) show that solar continues to eat into the share once firmly held by coal on the back of a dramatic increase in installations over the past 12 months. The trend was backed by energy storage facilities which continued to gain foothold as providers of frequency control and ancillary services, lowering overall costs in the first quarter of 2019.

Analyst Globaldata says falling system prices, and the need for more resilient grids and favorable policies, continue to fire the energy storage industry around the globe and the Asia-Pacific region is likely to remain the biggest market.

The Beijing authorities have confirmed the payment levels to be made according to type of project and region from July onwards but an auction process will be involved so the figures are for guidance only. No decision has yet been made on the 30 GW of capacity added since the end of May.