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Australia has rapidly become one of the world’s most attractive destination for hyperscale data centres, ranking within the top 5-10 markets globally by capacity. Several factors explain this rise: large land availability within Renewable Energy Zones, fast-growing renewable penetration surpassing 40% across the National Electricity Market, geopolitical stability, Australia’s status as a trusted Five Eyes jurisdiction, and proximity to Asia-Pacific demand centres.

Construction has officially started on Octopus Australia’s Blind Creek Solar Farm and battery project in southern New South Wales, one of the biggest DC-coupled hybrid projects being developed in the country.

The Chinese manufacturer has launched a fire-resistant version of its Hi-MO X10 module for distributed PV applications, featuring back-contact technology and up to 24.8% efficiency. The company says the module adds enhanced fire-safety design to address rooftop PV risks such as hot spots and DC arcing.

In an interview with pv magazine, Empa scientist Mirjana Dimitrievska explains that the CIGS photovoltaic technology, while promising for efficiency and flexible applications, faces persistent challenges in scaling lab-level performance to cost-effective, high-throughput industrial production, limiting its ability to compete with crystalline silicon. She also emphasizes that long-term stability, reliability, and material sustainability, rather than peak efficiency, are crucial for commercial viability, especially in niche markets like building-integrated and lightweight PV.

Plans to build Australia’s first large-scale silicon ingot and wafer manufacturing facility in Queensland have been put on the fast track by the federal government in a nod to the project’s potential to play a key role in supporting a domestic solar supply chain.

Potentia Energy has completed the installation of more than 161,000 solar modules at its Quorn Park hybrid solar-plus-storage project in western New South Wales, marking a new milestone in Australia’s renewable energy transition.

The Chinese manufacturer said its new three residential battery lines support a depth of discharge of 90% and deliver over 6,000 cycles.

The energy storage efficiency of 12 solar storage systems with capacities of 5 kW or 10 kW has been put to the test, including several new products, all of which achieved efficiency class A. The latest interation of the annual study also examined efficiency losses when storing electricity from the grid and took a closer look at the warranty conditions of the devices.

Australia’s rooftop solar market has bounced back into record-setting territory with 281 MW of new capacity registered across the country last month, marking the largest February total on record.

Nearly 20 years after the first perovskite solar cell was created, the efficiency and durability of this small but highly efficient film have attracted attention from industries around the world. Front of the queue is the global defence industry, where rising geopolitical tensions are resulting in record spending by governments to boost capabilities and protect critical systems from attack, whether from natural disasters or more sinister threats like military conflict.