Markets & Policy

Two significant Australian-based industrial corporations, which impact global transport and building sectors, have signed an MOU to explore green hydrogen opportunities in Queensland.

By understanding the challenges that impacted the solar industry, battery material manufacturers will be better equipped to scale next-generation technologies from the lab to have a real-world impact.

Private sector fossil fuel spending on exploration is drying up just as modest rises in clean energy investments are being observed. With stock market investors increasingly embracing renewables, the IEA has observed positive signals in its latest energy investment report, but warned we are still doing far too little to keep global heating at bay.

Module manufacturers have once again adjusted their prices upwards. This is already the third or fourth price increase in the last six months, and there is no end in sight, writes Martin Schachinger of pvXchange. But why is it so hard to achieve long-term, sustainable development in the global solar market, at least on the part of manufacturers? Few other industries are so turbulent, with constant swings between excess supply and bottlenecks, between price collapses and price rises – and always to the breaking point of the market. Yet again, planning security is out the window.

As PV manufacturing lines continue to get larger, keeping track of the measurement data that’s vital for quality and process control becomes an ever more herculean task. Flashing equipment supplier h.a.l.m. has developed a software solution that keeps all of this data in one place and provides operators with a real-time view of production line performance and quality. pv magazine caught up with Managing Director Michael Meixner to discuss the latest on big data in PV manufacturing.

A proposal which would allow network operators to charge rooftop solar PV owners to export their surplus energy to the grid has been opposed by key stakeholder groups in a joint submission to the Australian Energy Market Commission.

Solar and battery microgrid specialist Hybrid Systems Australia has announced it will establish the “world’s biggest” standalone power system manufacturing facility in Western Australia as it looks to cater for growing demand for the technology.

Lightsource bp, the solar arm of oil major BP, has reached financial close on its 107 MW West Wyalong Solar Farm in New South Wales and its 214 MW Woolooga Solar Farm in Queensland, bringing the company’s Australian pipeline to over 1.5 GW (DC) and exhibiting the strength of green investment strategies.

The Queensland Conservation Council has joined a chorus of voices calling on the State Government to abandon plans to rebuild the ageing Callide turbine after it was severely damaged by an explosion and fire, sparking the state’s worst power outage in decades.

Australia’s largest renewable energy zone is one step closer to fruition with the New South Wales Government calling for registrations of interest from developers of solar PV, wind and energy storage projects.