Sustainability

The City of Newcastle, home to the world’s busiest coal harbour, has seen its 5 MW solar farm generate double its projected revenue in the first six months of operation. The profits are a resounding endorsement and vindication of the Council’s audacious 100% renewable generation achievement.

An assessment of the human rights performance of the world’s leading solar and wind power companies has painted a grim state of affairs, with the only dedicated solar manufacturer analyzed scoring 7%.

The best laid plans can go awry, as a recent well-intended amendment to laws governing small-scale solar installations in NSW demonstrated. Action by the NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment, spurred by a determined solar entrepreneur, have saved developers of ground-mounted solar a stack of time and money.

Canberra’s first community solar farm, the Majura Valley Community Solar Farm, is a step closer to reality after Epho signed on to design and construct the farm. The solar farm is the development project of SolarShare, a group of local community investors.

The Northern Territory’s rollout of solar panel installation at 25 schools is picking up speed, and Victoria is looking to follow suit after announcing the application period open for its Greener Government School Buildings program following the success of a pilot program.

Hydrogen-fueled aviation has a realistic chance of helping the sector achieve climate goals, according to a European Union-commissioned study.

Singapore-based commercial and industrial solar developer Cleantech Solar has secured a US$75 million in green finance from ING Bank, the Asia Pacific’s largest ever C&I solar green loan. As the world’s fastest growing electricity market, South East Asia is crying out for this kind of investment.

Amid the urgent need to slow climate change by cutting greenhouse gas emissions, energy efficiency makes sense. But as Australia’s chief scientist Alan Finkel last week warned, we’re not “anywhere close to having that nailed”.

Nationwide analysis from Natural Solar’s live monitoring systems shows a 105% increase in Aussie household electricity in Q1 2020 as compared to 2019, a spike resulting from the lockdown implications of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, many Australians, like the 100% of Mulpha’s ‘Smart City’ buyers in Sydney’s North-West, will be buffeted from bill spikes thanks to home solar and energy storage systems.

Titjikala, a remote indigenous community southeast of Alice Springs, is getting set for the installation of a battery energy storage system to complement the 400kW solar array installed in 2018 as part of the Solar Energy Transformation Program. Energy storage has the potential to significantly reduce the community’s diesel dependence.