Technology

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has proposed changes to the rules governing how electricity generators connect to the grid in a bid to help pave the way for the introduction of renewable energy zones (REZs).

Scientists in the Netherlands are planning to build intelligent PV devices for energy and information applications. Their intention is to make this approach a new field of PV research, whose ultimate goal is enabling solar cells to communicate with each other and with other devices, ensuring that all the generated energy ends up exactly where it’s needed, especially in the urban environment.

Researchers in New Zealand have developed a new methodology for solar park planning that considers clear-sky radiation for voltage stability analysis. It is based on two different generation profiles for separate purposes.

Spanish energy storage company E22 has set to work on its first project in Australia, a 5MW/7.5 MW Li-ion battery in Longwarry, VIC that is set to provide AusNet with much needed network services during the heights of summer congestion.

South Korean manufacturer Clenergy has unveiled a new mounting solution for PV panels installed in balconies. The structure is adjustable to different types of commonly-sized balconies with metal railings.

A group of German scientists has analyzed the possible trajectory of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in photovoltaic research and industry and has suggested a roadmap to bring this technology closer to mass production. Despite a large number of challenges, the academics predicted a brilliant future for CNTs in PV applications, explaining that the barriers to their adoption are constantly being reduced.

Belgian start-up Sunslice has developed small, portable, high-performance solar panels that can be applied to backpacks and be used as rechargers for smartphones and watches.

Recognising that the major problems facing the world can’t be solved by any one organisation, three New South Wales universities at the peak of renewable-energy research have rewritten the rules of collaboration to influence policymakers and accelerate solutions to market.

The University of New South Wales will lead a consortium of Australian and German researchers and industrial partners in a feasibility study to tease out and provide solutions for the obstacles for the trade of green hydrogen from Australia to Germany.

A Dutch-Hungarian research team has measured, for 12 years, the degradation rates of PV modules installed in an off-grid system located in Ghana. It found that the panels had an average annual decline in power yield of 3.19%.