News

Most of Australia’s existing homes are old, uncomfortable, and expensive to run. Too many are energy inefficient, and rising electricity and gas prices are making things worse. Mainstream programs are supporting home energy upgrades but the transition isn’t happening quickly enough and risks leaving behind the households that could benefit most. New research shows how local initiatives can make solar and electrification more accessible.

Output from Australia’s utility-scale solar assets jumped almost 22% in the past 12 months with new data showing the country’s large-scale PV assets generated 1.82 TWh of clean energy last month.

Scientists at the Australian National University claim that TOPCon cells are rapidly closing the open-circuit voltage gap with HJT counterparts, now under 10 mV, while offering greater wafer tolerance and high industrial scalability. Despite slightly lower efficiency, TOPCon-based perovskite/silicon tandems can achieve a levelised cost of energy comparable to HJT-based tandems due to reduced fabrication costs, according to the researchers.

The war on Iran has made crystal clear how shaky our reliance on fossil fuels is. It’s no surprise electric vehicles and transport have become more appealing. In Australia, sales of electric vehicles surged 40–50% in March.

Spark Renewables has secured final state planning approval for a solar and battery project that will add 800 MW of PV and 356 MW / 1,574 MW of energy storage capacity to the grid in the New South Wales Riverina region.

South Australia has opened up more than 11,000 square kilometres of land for the potential development of renewable energy projects as it continues the march towards its target of 100% net renewables by 2027.

A UNSW-led team found that annealing conditions significantly affect stress, strain, and microstructure in copper-plated heterojunction solar cell contacts, with fast annealing increasing microstrain in both copper and indium tin oxide.

Latest figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency show solar contributed the majority of a record 692 GW of renewables capacity added worldwide last year.

The Australian Energy Council has released its Energy 2050 report addressing what policy makers and industry might do to deliver a net zero system, while balancing affordability, reliability and sustainability.

LONGi has launched LONGi ONE, an integrated solar-plus-storage product strategy for grid-scale, and commercial and industrial projects, which will be supported by a growing network of 30 new service centres opening in key locations globally by 2028.