Technology

As Australia’s home battery market begins to catch up to its install residential solar capacity the opportunity for large-scale virtual power plants is verging on reality. Indeed, Solar Service Group’s new Solar + Battery Members’ Plan could see Australia host the world’s largest virtual power plant next year.

An international research team has analyzed all existing cooling technologies for PV panels and has indicated the current best options and future trends of research. According to its findings, active water cooling, although expensive and not particularly practical, is the most effective cooling technique while passive cooling systems, despite being easy to apply, have still limited possibilities.

BOC will compress green hydrogen produced at newer than new HyP SA, which taps the state’s currently over-abundant solar generation, and deliver it to industrial customers in South Australia and Western Australia. The arrangement is expected to seed a foundation market for the carbon-free product and demonstrate its viability.

Never heard of CEP.Energy? The new green energy fund is set to become a renewable powerhouse, installing gigawatts of solar, plus batteries big and small across industrial estates and retail centres around the NEM. Institutional investors are making this virtual-power-plant vision a reality.

While the desire for data to support smarter grids is clear, actually digitalising said data to make it communicable around Australia is proving a thornier operation. Ultimately, it requires Australia’s grid operators to undergo nothing short of a metamorphosis – transitioning from operating networks to becoming network operators.

A group of Australian researchers have made a significant discovery in the fight against light-induced phase segregation in next-generation solar cells, a somewhat counter-intuitive solution encapsulated in the famous final words of German polymath Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “More light!”

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has published its annual report this week, a report glowing with the hue of ‘prudent investment’ according to the CEFC Chair. The report emphasises the prudence and efficacy of the green bank’s mandate despite attempts by the Morrison Government to siphon off funds for fossil-fuel investments.

Ho Chi Minh City-based construction company Trungnam Group said its army of labourers took just 45 days to perform site clearance for a project which took shape within 102 days. The 450 MW solar plant signals a new era in utility-scale solar for Vietnam, which is already seeing significant growth in its rooftop solar markets.

This week will see the official launch of a global taskforce that aims to support worldwide uptake and integration of renewables and achieve at least 50% reduction in emissions over the coming decade.

Professor Thomas Maschmeyer has taken his reimagining of zinc-bromine battery chemistry to the point of commercial launch; a new installation at the University of Sydney demonstrates the Gelion battery’s utility and appeal.