WA utility seeks green tick for solar and battery project
Plans to develop a 90 MW solar farm and a six-hour battery energy storage system to help power the Western Australian town of Broome have joined the queue for federal environmental assessment.
How to avoid ‘long tail’ effects in large-scale PV plants
New UNSW research found that about 20% of solar modules in large PV plants degrade much faster than expected. The researchers recommend holistic strategies such as robust materials, advanced designs, and proactive monitoring to decouple degradation pathways and prevent cascading failures.
Line locks in equipment supply deal for Tasmanian green hydrogen project
Line Hydrogen has breathed new life into a 7.6 MW green hydrogen project planned for Tasmania with the signing of an equipment supply deal with Chinese manufacturer Jiangsu Guofu Hydrogen Energy Equipment Co.
JinkoSolar pushes on perovskite-silicon tandem solar with new partnership
JinkoSolar has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with XtalPi, an “AI for Science” platform company, to pursue high-throughput R&D on perovskite-crystalline-silicon tandem solar cells using an AI platform and quantum-physics-based models.
NSW solar farms break 1 TWh generation barrier
Solar farms in New South Wales led the way for Australia’s utility scale PV energy output in December, generating 1,052 GWh of renewable electricity to drive all Australian large-scale PV and wind generation up 19% on the same time last year.
Australia makes gains in electric vehicle uptake
The number of motorists opting to buy an electric vehicle in Australia continues to rise with new-car sales data showing almost 157,000 EVs were purchased in 2025 with total sales increasing by 38% compared to the previous year.
Localised polysilicon thinning improves TOPCon solar cell performance
UNSW researchers boosted TOPCon solar cell efficiency by locally thinning the rear poly-Si layer, reducing parasitic absorption while preserving wafer integrity. The champion cell built with this approach achieved 25.10% efficiency with improved bifaciality and maintained strong passivation.
China connects world’s largest vanadium flow battery project
The GWh-scale long-duration energy storage project is expected to reduce curtailment in Xinjiang, a region of China with high solar and wind generation, and transmission bottlenecks. The flow battery installation is co-located with a PV plant.
Pacific Energy advances plans to power remote WA town with renewables
Plans to generate up to 80% of the Western Australia coastal town of Exmouth’s power from renewable energy sources are progressing well with all 16,700 PV panels installed at a new 9.6 MW solar farm.
UNSW research offers guidance for more robust TOPCon solar cells
UNSW researchers developed an experimentally validated model linking UV-induced degradation in TOPCon solar cells to hydrogen transport, charge trapping, and permanent structural changes in the passivation stack. They show that thicker aluminum oxide layers significantly improve UV resilience by limiting hydrogen migration, offering clear guidance for more robust TOPCon designs.
