Technology and R&D

Researchers in Western Australia have reviewed 36 mobile inspection robots for ground-mounted PV plants and have identified six commercial ground robots that are systematically used for this task. Their work presents the robots according to different types of locomotion, navigation technologies, communication technologies, and market status.

Voltage control specialist EcoJoule Energy has banked $15 million in capital it says will underwrite the company’s global expansion and support the wider deployment of technology designed to help stabilise the electricity grid as it adjusts to increasing levels of solar capacity.

The merits of Australia’s growing electric vehicle fleet are on display in Queensland and northern New South Wales where hundreds of thousands of residents remain without power in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

China supplied three-quarters of a 1 TWh global battery market in 2024 and its domination enabled steep cost savings and a possible switch to lithium ferro-phosphate technology, according to the International Energy Agency.

University of New South Wales researchers are part of an international team that has assessed the impact of soldering flux on heterojunction solar cells and has found that the composition of this component is key to prevent major cracks and significant peeling.

Longi has released a back-contact solar module with 24.8% efficiency, featuring a power output of up to 670 W and a temperature coefficient of -0.26% per degree Celsius.

Following the Australian Energy Market Commission’s (AEMCs) final determination in December 2024 allowing virtual power plants to compete directly with large-scale generators in the energy market, technology company GridBeyond has reported the broader market benefits of this significant change.

The pv magazine global awards program recognising excellence across the solar and storage industries is open for entries, with the opportunity for Australian businesses and individuals to win global recognition across seven categories adjudicated by a worldwide panel of independent industry experts.

Australian green infrastructure investor Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has announced it will roll out at least 3 GW of newly designed eight-hour duration battery energy storage systems across the country as it seeks to realise the “holy grail” of 24/7 cheap, renewable power.

UNSW researchers were able to recover silicon from end-of-life solar PV panels pure enough for re-use in silicon carbide-based devices. Their novel multi-step method, that includes thermal and chemical processes, also recovers silver.