News

While Australia continues to be a revelatory solar market internationally, it lost its place in the top 10 solar installers globally in 2023, the IEA PVPS team reports. According to Renate Egan, Executive Director for the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics, it is the first time in 30 years Australia has dropped off that list. “What’s sad is that the rest of the world is now taking off and investing in solar and we’re falling behind,” she said at Melbourne’s All Energy on Thursday.

New South Wales-headquartered critical power specialists Abundant Power Solutions has introduced the Austrian-made 2.5 kW Smartflower mobile solar system to Australia.

Solar and wind have won the global energy race. They accounted for 80% of new global power capacity installed in 2023. In Australia, 99% of new capacity is wind or solar.

China’s Longi Green Energy has set a new world record for crystalline silicon solar module efficiency with its independently developed hybrid passivated back contact (HPBC) 2.0 module, achieving a conversion efficiency of 25.4%, according to a certification report from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE).

A group of scientists conducted a literature review of almost a hundred fast maximum power point tracking algorithms. They extracted ten representative algorithms and showed which of them works best under different scenarios.

A Western Australian trio developing a novel ‘closed loop process’ for producing high purity alumina used in lithium-ion batteries has secured a $2.87 million grant from the Australian government.

The 4.6 MW Manilla Solar project in New South Wales is continuing its ambition of becoming Australia’s largest community-funded solar farm, inviting locals and national investors to contribute to its latest crowd raise, opening October 26.

Engie has broken ground on its 250 MW Goorambat East solar farm, with Victorian minister for climate action, energy and resources, Lily D’Ambrosio, attending the event. The solar farm, Victoria’s largest under construction, is expected to be operational by 2026.

Australian company Rux Energy is commercialising technology that uses highly porous nanomaterials to coat tanks for hydrogen storage, claiming significant improvements to the cost, safety and efficiency of what remains a major industry barrier. It has secured funding in the Australian government’s latest round of research grants, and recently opened an office in Essex off the back of industry trials now underway in the UK.

Chinese manufacturer JinkoSolar has used the All Energy Australia 2024 exhibition and conference being staged in Melbourne to launch its next generation Tiger Neo 3.0 modules that are available in two series with power outputs of 495 W and 670 W.