Technology

Interest and investment in heat pumps has surged in Europe, but in Australia the technology has struggled to find a serious foothold. Industrial heat pumps could reduce ‘hard to abate’ emissions here by 15 million tonnes per annum by 2050, according to new modelling from the Australian Alliance for Energy Productivity though. Despite the potential, dodgy technology suppliers and schemes gone awry have left a bad taste in Australia’s mouth, CEO Jarrod Leak tells pv magazine Australia.

Chinese researchers claim to have improved the performance of a proton exchange membrane electrolyser by connecting it to a thermal energy storage system.

India’s AmpereHour Energy has released MoviGEN, a new lithium-ion-based, mobile energy storage system. It is scalable and can provide clean energy for applications such as on-demand EV charging, remote construction sites, and large-scale outdoor events.

Australia’s national science agency has reaffirmed integrated wind and solar PV remain the cheapest new-build electricity generation options but warned inflationary pressures and ongoing supply chain disruptions are likely to stall any further cost reductions for at least 12 months.

Australian renewables developer Edify Energy has secured more than $13 million in federal and state government funding to help finance the installation of a 25 MW/50 MWh battery energy storage system featuring advanced inverter technology next to its 275 MW Darlington Point Solar Farm in south-west New South Wales.

The green credentials of solar PV technology have been reinforced with Singapore-headquartered manufacturer Maxeon Solar Technologies releasing details of an independent study that shows the energy output of its Maxeon 3 panels is more than 100 times greater than the input required to make the solar panels.

Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are getting better, according to the Energy Storage Inspection 2022 report by the University of Applied Sciences, HTW Berlin. The fifth edition of the study assessed 21 storage systems and found that while only two of the BESS studied were categorised as being efficiency class “A” in 2020, that number grew to six in 2022.

Salient Energy developed the water-based zinc-ion battery to have the same power, performance, and footprint as lithium-ion systems without the safety risk.

Thin-film cadmium telluride panels may have a US$0.02 to US$0.04 per watt carbon cost advantage over traditional polysilicon, said the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in an analysis of embodied carbon, embodied energy, and energy payback.

A coalition of renewable energy investors is calling for urgent reform of the National Electricity Market to help restore confidence among developers of large-scale wind and solar projects grappling with grid congestion and curtailment issues in Australia.