News

The solar industry in Europe and the United States is continuing to ramp up the pressure on the use of polysilicon produced in Xinjiang, China – in response to allegations that forced labour is being used in its production. By contrast, the Australian industry’s response has been markedly muted. Although it is true that most global solar industries are heavily reliant on Chinese manufacturing, Australia is overwhelmingly so.


The Chinese manufacturer will begin selling its new products in Australia and Europe. The hybrid inverter has an efficiency of up to 98.4% and the lithium iron phosphate battery features a storage capacity between 9.6 kWh and 102.4 kWh, depending on the number of modules.

The National Energy Administration has ordered grid companies to supply enough network connection points for all the solar and wind projects registered in 2019 and 2020, and said variable renewables should be supplying 11% of the nation’s electricity by the end of the year.

Two years in the making, Australia’s Energy Security Board today published its shortlist of options for redesigning the electricity market. “Our energy system is experiencing the fastest and most substantial change in the world,” the Board’s Independent Chair, Dr Kerry Schott, said. Addressing this, the paper essentially outlines a number of ways in which Australia could structure its transition to renewables smoothly and reliably. Stakeholders will now be able to provide the feedback on the options before the Board makes it recommendations to ministers in the middle of the year.

Pacific Energy subsidiary Contract Power Australia is set to design, construct, install and commission two batteries totalling 42 MW for Fortescue Metals Group as part of its Pilbara Energy Connect project. The storage facility is set to be the largest grid-connected battery system in Western Australia.

BayWa r.e.’s 106 MW Yatpool Solar Farm in the infamously congested north-west of Victoria has finally seen successful grid connection a full 18 months after construction completion. Despite the delay, the German developer says its commitment to the Australian market is unwavering.

Scientists in the UK used the latest imaging techniques to visualize and understand the process of dendrite formation and electrolyte cracking in an all solid-state battery. With new insight into the mechanisms by which these cracks form and ultimately lead to battery failure, the results could help direct the focus of future research into solid-state battery technology.

Australian peak body, the Smart Energy Council, has this morning revealed the details of the initial global and domestic partners for its hydrogen Zero Carbon Certification Scheme. The scheme seeks to provide a guarantee of origin for hydrogen, ammonia and other derivative products like steel, in preparation of Australia becoming a global hydrogen export hub.

Researchers in Germany claim to have overcome the primary hurdle in the development of large-area perovskite PV modules – scaling up from the cell to the module level. They achieved an efficiency of up to 16.6% on a module surface of ​​more than 50 centimetres squared, and 18% on a module with an area of 4 centimetres squared.

In an earnings call, the company said that storage deployments grew 71% YoY and solar installations were its strongest in 2.5 years.