Policy

Former prime minister Malcom Turnbull has been dumped from his role as chair of the New South Wales climate change advisory body by the Berejiklian government.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has published an engineering framework as it looks to conceive a broader framework for how the National Energy Market can facilitate the accelerating energy transition.

The $2 trillion package includes a proposed 10-year extension of the ITC and PTC and calls for further incentives to add transmission capacity. Most solar advocates liked it, but one nonprofit panned it as being too industry-friendly.

An independent exhibition brought to Melbourne Design Week by a group of 15 of the city’s top architectural firms demonstrates the blueprint for Melbourne’s transformation to “A New Normal”. “A New Normal” is a plan to transform Greater Melbourne into a self-sufficient city by 2030.

The Clean Energy Regulator told pv magazine Australia it’s focussing its attention on rooting out misbehaving installers, armed with new automated data analytics models and stronger bonds with industry co-regulators like the Clean Energy Council.

New research shows renewables plus batteries would be able to offer Australia’s electricity grid the same energy security as coal and gas generators, leading to calls for regulatory changes.

NSW is growing its renewable energy pipeline at pace. Many sun-drenched regions are understandably worried that their landscapes could be “de-natured” by the march of large-scale solar. The Independent Planning Commission process helps to bring the state’s needs in line with community concerns.

“Imagine what we could achieve if we had a government that wasn’t backed by the fossil fuel industry,” said Australian Greens party leader Adam Bandt on the weekend as he launched his next Federal Election policies centred on arresting climate change.

As distributed PV grows, new grid codes have scared installers across some markets. Network operators want to gain control over grid export, even of smaller arrays. Additions of new array controllers and special gateways could be costly putting speedy development of PV at risk. Fret not, says Fimer, as the Italy-based power-electronics manufacturer has placed the solution to the problem already inside its latest inverter range.

The solar industry typically sees itself as being supportive of the environment, humanity, and human rights. Even large Chinese PV manufacturers publish statements to this effect, particularly if they are listed on Western stock exchanges. But what do human rights have to do with the solar industry? What connections exist, asks Martin Schachinger of pvXchange, and how are they important to the future success of the European PV market?