Research

Researchers at Edith Cowan University have redesigned zinc-air batteries to an extent where the team’s study found the technology to be preferable to lithium-ion batteries, even for electric vehicles.

Queensland iron flow battery company Energy Storage Industries is delivering 1 MW/10 MWh of flow battery energy storage to Queensland’s Stanwell Power Station just outside of Rockhampton. The flow batteries are part of a new government-run clean energy testing ‘hub’ at Rockhampton, which will also include hydrogen and workforce training programs.

Australia’s national science agency has teamed with corporate advisor RFC Ambrian to form a new company to commercialise electrolysis technology that the CSIRO said can produce hydrogen with 30% less electricity than existing alkaline and polymer electrolyte membrane technologies.

Continued innovation in PV cell technology will have major impacts as PV is deployed at “multi-terawatt scale” over the next two decades, says a global team of scientists.

A group of Australian researchers say they have confirmed the benefits of combining rooftop solar installations with ‘green’ roofs with new research showing the combination increased solar generation by as much as 107% during peak periods.

Chris Case, chief technology officer for Oxford PV, recently spoke with pv magazine about the U.K.-based company’s new 28.6%-efficient, commercial-sized, tandem solar cell, its U.S. subsidiary, and plans for the future.

Solar pre-cooling consists of using residential PV systems to run air conditioners to pre-cool residential and commercial buildings. It offers benefits in terms of mitigating low minimum demand in electricity networks, flattening the grid’s net demand profile, and reducing electricity bills.

The model utilises deep learning and image processing techniques and is said to offer “superior performance.” In the future, it might be able to differ between panels of PV and solar thermal systems.

New South Wales hydrogen technology company Hysata will install a 5 MW electrolyser unit adjacent to the coal-fired Stanwell Power Station in Queensland as part of a commercial-scale demonstration of its next generation tech.

South Australia’s Flinders University has launched a trial that will test bidirectional vehicle-to-grid charging technology that allows electric vehicles to either be recharged or used as batteries to provide back-up power to the grid.