News

Scientists led by Brown University have developed perovskite solar cells, which replace the toxic lead common to many of these material structures with titanium. The researchers say that with further optimization, the material could eventually be ideal for use as a tandem cell layer.

The South Australian Labor Party has increased its Renewable Energy Target to 75% by 2025. It also plans to introduce a target of meeting 25% of the state’s peak electricity demand with stored renewables – equating to 750 MW of storage capacity.  

Australia’s first large scale solar+storage array has been grid connected, in Northern Queensland. The collocated 10.8 MW solar and 1.4 MW/5.3 MWh battery storage system is set to demonstrate the value of dispatchable PV to networks and asset owners.

1,200%. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, that’s how high imports of Chinese modules rose in the fourth quarter last year, in a desperate attempt to stockpile sufficient numbers before tariffs choked off international supplies.

Onshore wind and solar PV will go head-to-head for the first time in a new 200 MW tender in Germany. Bids for solar PV ground-mounted projects and onshore wind farms can be submitted to the Federal Network Agency by April 3.

While bifacial panels may capture up to 10% more light than monofacial panels, single-axis trackers typically add 25% to that bifacial gain, resulting in a roughly estimated 12.5% gain from the two technologies combined, compared with fixed installs using monofacial panels.

There is absolutely no doubting that the installation rate of solar PV, both rooftop and utility scale, is growing extremely quickly. An exciting development, yeah, but installed capacity isn’t likely to double in 2018.

The Australian Wind Alliances’s NSW regional coordinator, Charlie Prell, attended the launch of the new Gullen Solar Farm at Bannaby, just south of Crookwell in the Southern Tablelands of NSW.  

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has delivered its latest detailed energy policy review to the Australian Federal Government. It points to changing policy at the Federal level as having failed Australia’s energy transition and consumers, and argues for the need for a framework to be put in place for 2030.

Despite hitting a record 1.17 GW of new grid-scale storage capacity in 2017, growth was a mere 4.6% on 2016 having surged 61% the year prior. Industry’s reliance on policy support means foundations for growth remain uneven, report finds. Average costs, however, fell by 24% last year.