Research

Building a domestic solar panel manufacturing industry based on Australian innovation could generate up to 60,000 jobs and help cement the nation’s future as a renewable energy superpower but access to capital and focused policies are essential if manufacturers are to reach scale where they can be cost competitive internationally.

Queensland aluminium materials manufacturer Alpha HPA says it is on the brink of transforming lithium-ion battery safety, declaring its high-purity aluminium nitrate is capable of providing a solution to lithium-ion battery fires.

A team of scientists in Australia claim to have achieved the highest efficiency reported to date for a perovskite-CIGS tandem solar cell built on a flexible steel substrate. In the proposed cell configuration, steel can act as both a substrate and an electrode.

The central Australian town of Alice Springs is on track to achieve 50% renewable power generation by 2030 but a new report says urgent investment and action is needed to integrate the increasing amounts of renewable energy, including solar PV and battery energy storage, into its isolated grid.

A new report puts electricity generation, storage, transmission and electrification from renewable sources on Australia’s front line to combat climate pollution.

Researchers in the United States have repurposed a commonplace chemical used in water treatment facilities to develop an all-liquid, iron-based redox flow battery for large-scale energy storage. Their lab-scale battery exhibited strong cycling stability over 1,000 consecutive charging cycles, while maintaining 98.7% of its original capacity.

Energy storage specialist Lochard Energy has secured a $2 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency that will underpin a feasibility study into large-scale underground storage of green hydrogen in southwest Victoria.

Western Australian regional energy provider Horizon Power will trial two novel long-duration energy storage technologies – including a zinc-bromine flow battery provided by Queensland manufacturer Redflow – as it seeks to identify new energy storage solutions for off-grid communities dealing with high levels of solar and extreme weather.

Mining and energy major Fortescue says the performance of an electric excavator operating at its Cloudbreak mine site in Western Australia’s is continuing to improve but is at times already performing better than its diesel equivalent.

A team of Australian researchers has designed a new catalyst that has the potential to deliver a new generation of lithium-sulfur batteries that are capable of being charged in less than five minutes, instead of several hours as is currently the case.