Quality

Multiple factors can affect the lifespans of residential battery energy storage systems.

In a study that began in 2016, scientists in the United States purchased 834 PV modules, representing seven manufacturers and 13 module types, and installed them in various climate conditions to observe their performance over time. The results show that, while plenty of opportunities still exist to extend module lifetimes and reduce performance loss in the field, reductions in the manufacturing cost of PV have not come with an increase in their degradation rate.

As community opposition to overhead transmission line grows, the Victoria-based Energy Grid Alliance has released a report imploring the energy industry to better understand why the phenomenon is gaining momentum – positing the ‘talk to them early and pay them more’ approach will only further decay the situation. Instead, the group says real attention needs to be paid to social license and ensuring environmental and socioeconomic impacts of chosen transmission corridors are considered from the get-go.

Rooftop solar installations may now be conducted by multiple installers, the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) announced today. The rule change will afford companies more flexibility as CER continues tightening its surveillance of the rooftop industry.

The Commonwealth government backed Clean Energy Regulator on Tuesday confirmed 17 hydrogen projects across Australia have signed up to participate in its ‘Guarantee of Origin’ scheme.

Solar companies are reporting widespread staff shortages leading to false price points around the value of installers. Scott Mason, general manager of Platinum Solar Designs, says the shortages aren’t simply part of Australia’s broader skills scarcity, but rather are endemic to the solar industry and linked to a regulatory system which is pushing down the quality of installations.

Bearing witness during battery energy storage system manufacturing can reveal potential failure points and is crucial given the industry’s relative immaturity, argues Frédéric Dross, the vice-president of strategic development for quality assurance provider STS. And much can be learned from the early days of solar.

New research has categorised all existing fault detection and localisation strategies for grid-connected PV inverters. The overview also provides a classification of various component failure modes and their potential causes in a tabular form.

Hailed as a landmark for Australia’s vision of becoming a global hydrogen exporter, the Suiso Frontier’s first shipment of liquid hydrogen from Australia is now under investigation after a flame was seen coming from the gas combustion unit’s exhaust on deck.

On Friday, major changes to the regulatory framework surrounding the small-scale renewable energy scheme (SRES), effectively the country’s solar rebate program, will come into force. Pv magazine Australia spoke to Smart Energy Council CEO John Grimes about the changes and how they will impact Australia’s solar players.