Technology

The contest is over. Faster, cheaper, more flexible than gas turbines … battery energy storage must be the future peaking energy service provider of choice says the hard evidence exposed in a new paper by the Clean Energy Council.

A human hair derivative has been found to protect, stabilise and enhance the performance of perovskite solar cells.

A homegrown technology developed by the University of Newcastle and Southern Green Gas has seen the development of a novel green hydrogen fuel and carbon neutral green methane. The fuel was demonstrated in Hyundai’s Nexo hydrogen fuel cell SUV in Sydney.

The Australian Energy Market Commission has again rejected requests from transmission network operators TransGrid and ElectraNet to allow for a change of rules governing financing arrangements for large-scale transmission projects considered critical for Australia’s shift to 100% renewables.

The latest set of clean energy statistics compiled by the International Renewable Energy Agency signal a changing of the guard when it comes to clean power, with legacy hydropower facilities overtaken by new intermittent renewables.

BloombergNEF’s latest modelling has found that solar PV is the key driver behind an accelerating cost decline in green hydrogen. The forecast shows green hydrogen’s cost declining by 85% by 2050, undercutting natural gas as well as both blue and grey hydrogen production.

Sinopec wants to build 1,000 hydrogen refueling stations by 2025. Ways2H is building a facility in the Tokyo area that will convert daily 1 ton of dried sewage sludge into 40-50 kilograms of hydrogen for fuel cell mobility and power generation. Ørsted wants to deploy two renewable hydrogen production facilities for a total of 1 GW by 2030. Wacker Chemie is planning to produce green hydrogen and renewable methanol at its German site.

Some of Australia’s most thrilling thinkers are scientifically investigating the applications of light and developing new light-absorbing materials. Like human investment in space travel the dedication to solar research is paying back beyond its remit. pv magazine talks to one far-reaching centre of excellence in the field.

“If I only had a brain …” Smart digital technology enables electricity substations to deliver greater reliability of operation and more consistent grid stability with increasing integration of renewable energy sources.

Having picked up GBP 5.8 million ($8 million) in a series of investments, U.K.-based Power Roll is pushing ahead with pilot production of an innovative new thin film with which it can manufacture both solar modules and capacitors. In the future, the design could also bring the potential for solar generation and energy storage within a single lightweight device.