200 MW solar project nipped in the bud as VCAT hands down decision
In a major battle over land use, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has decided to refuse a planning permit for the 200 MW Bookaar Solar Farm, near Camperdown.
Parliamentary inquiry into controversial Solar Homes rebate voted down
Labor MPs together with three crossbench MPs have voted down an inquiry in the Upper House on how the Victorian government’s Solar Homes program was put together and is being implemented. The push for an inquiry was promised to the solar industry by Opposition leader Michael O’Brien at a protest held in late July.
French solar-powered drone startup takes flight in Australia
Toulouse-based startup Sunbirds has set up an office, assembly workshop and maintenance centre in Brisbane. The company is providing solar-powered drones and drone-as-a-service solutions to surveyors, cattle stations and environmental monitoring companies.
Lithium-ion batteries are (still) headed for tariffs as of September 1
The energy storage market is set to be the latest affected by Trump’s trade war, and lithium-ion batteries were not included in a group of Chinese imports where tariffs will be delayed until December 15.
Thinktank says India must prioritize a vertically integrated solar supply chain
To develop cost-competitive solar modules the nation must adopt a phased program and set up 15 GW of silicon-ingot-to-solar-module manufacturing capacity by 2024, according to The Energy and Resources Institute.
Corporate clean energy PPAs to smash last year’s record: BloombergNEF
Power purchase agreements for 8.6 GW of clean energy have been signed in 2019 till July—up from 7.2 GW at the same time last year—with USA alone accounting for up to 70% of the deals. India continues to lead the Asia Pacific region despite registering a slowdown in the activity – almost almost twice as much as the volume recorded in Australia.
‘New and strange properties’ provide a boost to energy storage
MIT scientists have developed a class of liquid electrolyte with properties they say could open up new possibilities for improving the performance and stability of lithium batteries and supercapacitors.
A new spectroscopic method to understand the physical principles of organic PV
A German research team claims to have created a new visualization technique it says can enable detailed mapping of the energetic landscapes of organic PV cells on a nano scale. The technique could lead to organic cells with reduced power losses.
UPC/AC Renewables invest in 550 MW of pumped hydro and solar in South Australia
AC Renewables, the energy arm of Philippines’ Ayala Corp, and Australia’s UPC Renewables have agreed to buy 51% in a 250 MW pumped hydro project and a neighboring 300 MW solar project, both located in South Australia.
175 MW Finley Solar Farm reaches construction milestone
Stage 1 or an equivalent of 85 MW has been installed and tested at the Finley Solar Farm, one of the many large-scale solar developments in the Riverina region.
