Do engineers dream of solar panel efficiency?
A true next generation of solar cell technology is upon us. It is time to contemplate the benefits.
Q Cells, Samsung sign ‘zero energy home’ partnership
Q Cells and Samsung have agreed to combine their hardware and software platforms to develop ‘zero energy homes,’ with on-site energy production and use.
Adding value to Australia’s historically underutilised battery proposition
To truly seize on the opportunity afforded by the imminent battery boom, Australia needs to look beyond its historic role as a supplier of raw materials and broaden the horizons by adding value with downstream products and manufacturing, according to a recent Future Battery Industries report. Pv magazine Australia caught up with Vincent Algar, managing director of Australian Vanadium Limited – a company operating in this promising yet thorny realm.
Australia’s first privately funded big battery to be hosted in Melbourne
Lumea is planning the first big battery to be financed without any government support at Melbourne’s Deer Park Energy Hub.
‘Benchmark’ agrisolar trial in Victoria proves successful with sheep reportedly loving panel shade
Gannawarra Solar Farm, Victoria’s first large-scale solar farm integrated with a big battery, has forayed into the world of agrisolar by integrating sheep grazing on site. The sheep are reportedly loving the shade offered by the panels, which has allowed them to graze even during the hottest parts of the day, with the animals unperturbed by the solar farm’s tracking devices.
Solar beach umbrella cools you… and your gelato
An MIT-spawned company has teamed up with architects and an Italian frozen-desserts brand to design an origami-inspired umbrella to power fridges.
‘Residential batteries are less profitable than selling excess power to the grid’
Although self-consumption of solar power is the optimal economic approach, the expense of household batteries at present outweighs the increased ability they offer to use electricity generated on the roof. Whether aggregated ‘virtual batteries’ offer better returns is an open question, due to lack of electricity company transparency.
New modelling points to $2p/kg for green hydrogen by 2030
New modelling by researchers at Monash University has found the cost of green hydrogen produced using solar PV could satisfy the Australian Government’s economic stretch goal of $2 per kilogram by as early as 2030.
Maoneng lodges application for 225 MW/450 MWh big battery
Australian renewable energy developer Maoneng has lodged plans to construct a ‘critical’ 225 MW/450 MWh utility scale battery energy storage system at Gould Creek in South Australia.
AER report highlights reliability issues for future energy market
The Australian Energy Regulator says maintaining a reliable energy supply shapes as a “pivotal challenge” with the nation’s record take-up of rooftop solar PV and investment in large-scale renewables transforming the way the energy market operates.
