Policy

Rebates and zero-interest loans for solar panels, solar hot water systems and batteries account for one of the major spends in Victoria’s 2019/20 budget and come at a cost of $1.3 billion.

Western Australia’s government says nearly a third of successful applicants in the latest round of the state-backed commodity exploration scheme hopes to discover battery materials. In other news, the state government has established the Energy Transformation Taskforce in response to the energy sector’s transition from coal to renewables and distributed energy resources. 

Some 168 projects will be developed across 16 provinces free from central government subsidy. The fact the average capacity of such projects has tumbled indicates Beijing’s plan to accelerate the arrival of subsidy free solar may be on track.

The developers of the 35 MW Brigalow Solar Farm are challenging the new solar installation rules introduced by the Queensland government.

After continued pressure from residents, the Andrews Government is set to make a decision on whether to include public housing tenants in its solar rebate scheme. The decision is pending publication of The Solar Opportunities for Public Housing Assets report expected later this month.

Defying election predictions, the right-wing Liberal-National coalition celebrated a “miracle” victory on Saturday evening. But, the Australian solar sector has little reason to rejoice.

One of the hotly contested issues in the run-up to the Saturday federal election is whether a proactive response to climate change is more expensive than doing nothing. The Australia Institute has examined 22 reports from academics, government agencies and consultants modeling higher emissions reductions by 2030 and found that none of them shows action on climate change is ‘economy wrecking’. Counting the costs of the major parties’ climate change policies, UNSW finds that impacts of inaction on climate change for both Australia’s economy and jobs outweigh the costs of reducing emissions.

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.

This year, pv magazine is setting a new editorial agenda. Via our program, UP, we will be diving deep into the topic of what it means to be truly sustainable, looking at what is already being done, and discussing areas for improvement. Over the coming weeks, months, and years, we will share our findings across our various digital platforms, in our print magazines, and via our roundtable events and webinars. Are you UP for it?

The “new safety code” handed down by the Palaszczuk Government last month is set to cost jobs, delaying installations and making some projects unviable – warn installers.