News

Dutch transmission system operator Enexis, gas provider Gasunie and oil company NAM are considering diverting excess solar capacity in Drenthe province into hydrogen production. The companies are assessing which wind and solar projects may have been excluded from the grid.

Drought-stricken Manilla will soon have some of its pressures eased thanks to its efforts to develop a community solar project. The Manilla Solar Farm will not only provide locals with cheaper, clean energy, but also enable energy trading with the national grid.

The University of Queensland (UQ) is well known for its renewable solar power generation, from its Warwick Solar Farm to the extensive solar PV arrays on UQ campuses. Now UQ can store its solar power too, with one of Queensland’s largest behind-the-meter battery storage systems.

Fossil fuel giant Royal Dutch Shell has snapped up a 49% stake in one of the biggest Australian utility-scale solar developers furthering its expansion into the market.

Peer-to-peer energy trading (P2P), the signature of Power Ledger and already a recognised Australian digital export, is set to be installed into nine apartments in Perth’s eastern suburbs. The development’s integration with smart energy trading technology will allow the space to share a solar PV system and SENEC battery.

Western Australia’s (WA) publicly-owned grid operator, Western Power, has announced its largest battery is on its way to Kalbarri. The battery, the biggest utility-scale battery ever to be connected to the Western grid network, departed from Perth today on its way north to the laid-back coastal town.

The new StorEnergy centre – supported with a $4.4 million Federal Government grant – will produce battery materials on a commercial scale and seek to increase knowledge and develop innovative solutions for Australia’s energy needs.

Described as “historic”, the draft outlines the future climate protection course of the European Union. Overall, the EU should become climate neutral by 2050, and trigger €1 trillion in investment. €1 billion is expected to be made available for the transition. This is to be formalized in a climate law in the coming months. Although solar was noticeably absent in the draft, plans have been detailed by SolarPower Europe as to how it could be included.

The PV manufacturer announced the development of the new solar panels, which feature new M12 series monocrystalline wafers, at a conference on Thursday in the Chinese city of Ningbo. The 50-cell modules are actually slightly bigger than 72-cell designs with 156.75 mm wafers, it said.

Chinese scientists have developed a PV floor tile they say is suitable for pavements and cycling tracks. The devices were tested on a ‘green deck’ in Hong Kong. The developers say the tiles have demonstrated satisfactory solar energy conversion, anti-slip performance, heat-resistance and strength.