Performance parameters for residential heat pumps linked to PV, storage
German researchers measured a PV-powered heat pump with battery storage in a single-family home in Freiburg, Germany, for a period of a year. It features smart grid-ready tech that adjusts operations based on the grid.
Another WA town transitions to solar and batteries
Cue, a town in Western Australia’s midwest, has installed 259 kW of solar and a 336 kWh battery system to wean itself off diesel. The installation is part of Horizon Power’s Midwest Solar Program and belongs within a much larger state-wide transformation.
Sunshine Hydro signs 20% First Nations equity deal on flagship Queensland project
Sunshine Hydro and project partner Energy Estate have signed an agreement to give First Nations stakeholders a 20% equity option in the companies’ Djandori Gung-i Superhybrid project at Miriam Vale, Queensland. The project proposes to deliver up to 600 MW of pumped hydro capacity and up to 300 MW of hydrogen electrolysers.
Sparc selects Adelaide site to pilot photocatalytic hydrogen production following CSIRO demo
Having completed first prototype testing outside the lab for its green hydrogen photocatalytic water splitting technology, joint venture company Sparc Hydrogen has been working on its pilot plant study, selecting a site “proximal to Adelaide.”
New research claims PV outperforms afforestation in combating climate change
Scientists from Israel have calculated how long it would take for PV plants and afforestation projects to offset their warming impacts caused by the darkening of land. The results showed that in drylands, PV fields could be over 50 times more efficient than afforestation.
Thermal storage company breaks ground on its renewable agriculture facility in NSW
Australian thermal storage company, Graphite Energy, has broken ground on its Lake Cargelligo facility in New South Wales which aims to demonstrate how renewable energy and agriculture can coexist through agrivoltaic and green house systems.
Weekend read: Connecting HJT
The application of busbarless cell interconnection approaches could unlock the potential of heterojunction (HJT) technology, primarily by reducing the historically high silver usage of negatively-doped, “n-type” cell technology. As HJT production increases, a wave of applications may very well be on the horizon.
AGL to trial forecasting tool to transform energy demands of C&I sites
Melbourne Airport is among the organisations taking part in a two-year trial intended to help commercial and industrial energy users shift their demand away from peak times, easing pressure on the grid and supporting the integration of more renewables.
New solution to suppress battery storage fire, thermal runaway unveiled by Fike
Fike Corp., a US industrial-hazard protection specialist, has launched Fike Blue, a tested, patented solution that suppresses battery fires and stops cascading thermal runaway.
PERC inventor from UNSW discusses the future of the technology
University of New South Wales academic Aihua Wang is the first female recipient of the United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth Prize (QEPrize) for Engineering, after sharing the 2023 award with Andrew Blakers, Martin Green, and her husband Jianhua Zhao for their work developing the passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) solar cell. pv magazine caught up with her to ask about the achievement.
