Sustainability

French start-up Solar Cloth has secured a patent for a PV shade screen for solar greenhouses.

Call it a school upgrade, a maintenance improvement, a learning opportunity, a right start in life … Western Australia’s Solar Schools Program was launched last week in the Pilbara town of Port Hedland to bring multiple benefits to the quality of student experiences in the state’s regions.

The Queensland Government has opened the registrations of interest period for its three planned and well-funded Renewable Energy Zones. The Sunshine State is calling on the renewables sector to come forward and lead Queensland’s renewable revolution.

The forecast for the ACT is two big batteries and gale-force winds as the territory’s Government awarded two considerable contracts in its latest ‘reverse auction’, including a 14-year contract with Neoen, the first for its massive Goyder Renewables Zone. 

It is not surprising that Byron Bay is ahead on its eco-friendly activity, but Byron Shire Council’s latest draft Net Zero Emissions Action Plan is an example of how framing policy can provide the active space for energy transition – an example the Morrison Government would be wise to follow.

Around 4.2 MWh of energy storage capacity will be connected to a solar and diesel micro-grid on Rarotonga, the largest of the islands in the South Pacific nation. Three 40-foot containers with a total power output of 4.8 MVA will be used as a power reserve and for grid support by utility Te Aponga Uira.

After being ignored by the Federal Government, Queensland has announced a $500 million Renewable Energy Fund for state-owned energy corporations to invest in commercial renewable project and infrastructure, a particular complement to QLD’s three pending Renewable Energy Zones.

Solar Citizens, the Queensland Council of Social Service (QCOSS) and Queensland Conservation Council have come together to propose a $215 million initiative to the Queensland Government which would see 50 MW of solar installed across more than 50,000 social dwellings to help households save on their energy bills in these tough economic times.

Almost a third of Australians are locked behind the solar barrier, they’re renters, tenants, urban apartment-dwellers who don’t have the luxury of installing their own solar PV. However, now city-dwellers can participate in the solar transition too, by becoming members of the Haystacks Solar Garden which operates in much the same way as community garden.

South Australia’s first ten-star home was completed last month, a home that consumes twenty times less energy than the average Australian household, in part thanks to its Fimer React 2 solar hybrid system.