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PV InfoLink says polysilicon prices are clearly starting to fall. Meanwhile, Longi has lowered the prices of all wafers, and JA Solar has unveiled plans to build a new 10 GW factory.

The Andrews Labor government has been returned in Victoria. It must now reckon with two particularly crucial challenges: runaway climate change and wartime-scale energy costs.

With construction underway on a $295 million (USD 197 million) transmission project to connect the landmark Kidston Clean Energy Hub to the grid in far north Queensland, developer Genex Power has announced plans to boost the generation capacity of what is already Australia’s largest hybrid energy project combining wind, solar and pumped hydro.

Australian renewable energy startup Green Gravity plans to accelerate the commercialisation of its gravitational energy storage technology – which aims to generate clean, dispatchable energy by lowering weights down old mine shafts – after inking an agreement with global professional services company GHD.

Queensland will be home to what the state government claims will be one of the largest onshore wind projects in the world after Spanish renewable energy giant Acciona Energia announced plans to develop a new 1 GW project in the state’s southwest.

Seven New South Wales local councils have united to secure a long-term electricity purchasing agreement utilising the 115 MW Metz Solar Farm which will deliver enough renewable energy to allow the participating councils’ facilities and assets to transition to 100% renewables in a staged approach from January 2023.

Risen and Longi have revealed plans to each build 10 GW factories, while Canadian Solar has reported solid earnings and Daqo has secured a big polysilicon order.

An irrigation community has built a 786 kW floating solar array on a small water reservoir in Murcia, Spain. The facility will provide power for a solar water pumping system, a desalination unit, and the community itself.

The developed world is facing scenarios of zero economic growth or even recessions, as inflation, energy costs, interest-rate rises, and tougher lending criteria makes life tough for business. But money is flowing into the energy transition by scaling and commercialising existing technologies, reports pv magazine’s Tristan Rayner.

The idea of capturing solar power in space for use as energy on Earth is not new but the race for space-based solar power is heating up and global superpowers China and the United States are leading the way.