News

The world’s largest battery-electric ship has reached a new milestone with shipbuilder Incat Tasmania confirming that one of the vessel’s four battery rooms is now receiving electrical charge ahead of sea trials later this year.

Renewables developer Global Power Generation Australia is seeking federal government approval to develop a 290 MW solar farm and 180 MW / 360 MWh battery energy storage system in Queensland’s Fraser Coast region.

Australians love rooftop solar power. About 4 million homes have solar panels on their roofs, and we generate more solar energy per person than any other country. But affordability pressures on homeowners are holding them back from installing rooftop solar on millions of homes. Without this, Australia could struggle to meet its goal of generating more than 80% of electricity from renewables by 2030.

The latest report from the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Program highlights that 2024 was another record year for solar installations globally but large overcapacities of solar cell, module and wafer manufacturing continued.

A Chinese research group claims to have achieved remarkable efficiency and stability in a solar cell based on a perovskite absorber incorporating MXene, a novel type of 2D material known for its excellent conductivity, chemical stability, and thermal resilience. The device reportedly retained 80% of its initial efficiency after 500 hours.

Australian researchers are collaborating with organisations in India, Indonesia and the United States to develop a zero-carbon, automated end-of-life solar panel recycling process using robots to recover ultra-pure silicon.

Researchers from the University of New South Wales are building and validating a prototype of their AI-enabled wireless sensing system that can spot dangerous heat in lithium-ion batteries before it progresses to thermal runaway.

The New South Wales government has granted planning approval to the 500 MWdc / 435 MW solar farm componant of Ark Energy’s Richmond Valley hybrid project, which will be co-located with a 475 MW / 2,200 MWh battery energy storage system.

Developers of a series of artificial intelligence factories being built across Australia at a cost of $73.3 billion, say they will be 100% powered by renewable energy and could stimulate 5.1 GW of solar, storage, hydro and wind projects.

Japanese researchers have proposed a method for future vehicle-integrated photovoltaic route planning. It integrates environmental shading effects based on satellite and geographic information system data.