Technology and R&D

Solar research in Australia has “a long history of being generously funded”, says Senior Lecturer at UNSW, Richard Corkish, but the gap in available grant monies emerging as ARENA nears the end of its current remit could jeopardise some of the country’s most important solar research and development as well as the hubs of expertise themselves.

Researchers at RMIT University have designed a solar chimney that both saves energy, and saves lives. The solar chimney, part of a range of sustainable features built into the new Mentone Reserve Pavilion in Melbourne’s Kingston.

In coming years digital services will transform end-to-end energy management, from the point of generation to bill payment. Origin Energy has announced plans to adopt Octopus’s Kraken platform as it also buys a piece of the tech-tailer’s action.

The Morrison Government claims that BloombergNEF ranks its new commitment and cumulative investment in hydrogen as among the largest made by any country. But there’s more to investment than largesse, as BNEF recently ascertained in a study of the economic case for hydrogen.

WA’s McGowan Government has set up a $9 million Clean Energy Future Fund which it will top up with the royalties of ‘unconventional onshore oil and gas projects’, a euphemism for fracking.

Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology have proposed a new design of a diamond nanothread bundle that could found a new form of mechanical storage, which, pound-for-pound, is three times more powerful than lithium-ion batteries.

The 11th edition of the German document which tracks solar price falls and efficiency improvements has considered the role bigger wafers are playing in cost reduction.

Researchers from Finland’s Lappeenranta University of Technology have assessed the economic advantages of a fully interconnected global network. They found that an international grid could contribute to a global LCOE of €52.50/MWh. The higher complexity of such a system, however, would only be marginally compensated by additional economic benefits.

Solar windows have taken a big leap forward on the back of a new partnership between Australian scientists and a major glass manufacturer which will investigate the use of semi-transparent solar cells in commercial applications, potentially revolutionizing building design.

pv magazine’s social media and comments are clamouring for more information on how the West Murray challenge is being won. SMA and AEMO will keep us updated as testing of an inverter-based solution progresses throughout this week, but here’s the latest on the Sunny Central inverter family and the team that makes it play in tune.