Millions of Australian households with rooftop solar are now rapidly adding batteries to maximise their generation and regain control over escalating power bills. This is energy democracy in action, with batteries becoming a key fixture of Australia’s decarbonisation roadmap.

Two years ago, Snowy Hydro announced a reset for its troubled Snowy 2.0 giant pumped hydro project amid cost blowouts. The supposed final cost was $12 billion.

Electric vehicle sales and renewable energy production are on the rise globally. The United States alone added 5.8 million light-duty electric vehicles to its roads as of 2023, leading the US Department of Energy to predict that electricity demand for EV charging could increase overall US electricity consumption by 20-50% by 2050.

Australia has more solar panels per person than anywhere else in the world. One in three houses now has rooftop solar. Our grid operators are working hard to adjust to a new reality where the collective output of rooftop solar is one of our largest sources of power.

Achieving Australia’s 2035 energy goals needs engineering firms to have project intelligence at their fingertips, through unified, real-time data about a project, its people, and finance, to ensure accurate forecasting, avoid delays and maximise performance.

China-headquartered PV cell and module manufacturer TW Solar has introduced into the Australian market a “full black” n-type solar panel featuring an output of 470 W and a power conversion efficiency of 23.5%.

Australian homes equipped with solar systems are commanding a price premium with new data showing they are valued at up to $31,350 more than similar properties without PV installations when it comes time to sell.

Australian renewables developer ACEnergy has won approval from the New South Wales Independent Planning Commission for a 250 MW / 1,100 MWh battery energy storage system to be built in the state’s southwest.

The International Energy Agency says the cost of capital for solar remains higher in Southeast Asian countries than it does in other emerging and developing economies.

Another big battery has joined South Australia’s energy mix with Epic Energy announcing that its 200 MWh Mannum battery energy storage system is now fully operational.

Researchers in China have developed a dust monitoring technique that relies solely on the existing hardware resources of inverters, without requiring extra sensors or meteorological data. Tests on existing rooftop PV arrays demonstrated an accuracy exceeding 96%.

Global clean energy major EDP Renewables plans to accelerate the development of more than 1.7 GW of solar and battery storage in Australia after securing support under the federal government’s Capacity Investment Scheme.

A tender is open in Vanuatu to deliver eight solar water pump systems and 24 standalone solar PV systems. The deadline to submit expressions of interest is October 27.

The Queensland government’s Energy Roadmap outines new delivery plans for the CopperString transmission project in an effort to put a lid on its $12 billion cost blowout.

Sydney technology startup Coolsheet has begun a commercial-scale pilot of its PV-thermal system, a patented aluminium heat exchange panel that converts a standard solar module into a PVT hybrid for new installations as well as retrofits.

DHL Freight Sweden and Denmark-based Green Energy Group announced a one year nationwide pilot in Sweden to test the use of vehicle integrated PV with a fleet of biofuel-powered transport trucks.

Block chain-based tracking of a solar panel’s lifecycle or a national certification program for second-hand modules, are two strategies University of South Australia researchers studied in developing a game plan for keeping panels out of landfill.

A record $4.7 billion in 2024-25 investment commitments, more than 2.5 times the value of the previous year, have been reported in the annual report of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

Researchers have developed a stagnant water layer cooling concept and tested it using seawater, tap water, and desalinated water. The panel temperature decreased by up to 8.2 °C, while power output increased by approximately 28%.

A team of researchers led by the University of Sydney has fabricated a triple-junction perovskite-perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell that achieved a power conversion efficiency of up to 27.06% and set new standards for thermal stability.

With silver prices nearing $75 per ounce, researchers from the University of New South Wales and the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems tell pv magazine that efforts to reduce silver use in solar cells will not compromise module quality if properly engineered.

Researchers at University of New South Wales have reported details about a novel sieving-aids technology that improves the separation of metal fragments from other components when recycling end-of-life PV panels. The patented process reportedly enhances the recovery of silver.

Wood Mackenzie says module prices will climb as China ends export rebates and consolidates polysilicon production.

Researchers have developed a novel defluorination method to dispose of PTFE, used in solar componentry and electric cable coating, that converts its constituent fluorine compounds and could enable eco-friendly polymer recycling.

An Indian-British research team has developed a building-integrated linear concentrating PV facade by sandwiching an asymmetric compound parabolic concentrator, PERC cells, and encapsulation layers between two sheets of glass.

Chasing a 2027, 100% renewable electricity generation target, South Australia calls on firming projects capable of continous eight hour dispatch to register for the state’s first firm energy tender targeting 700 MW of capacity by November 2031.

Investment confidence in solar and battery storage development is clear-cut given over 50% of 20 successful Capacity Investment Scheme Tender 4 bids are for large scale hybrid projects.

The 1 GW Tallawang solar and battery hybrid project being developed in central west New South Wales has secured final state planning approval after being forced to an independent tribunal after attracting more than 50 objections.

A recent report from battery intelligence firm Accure reveals that while most battery energy storage systems operate reliably, nearly 19% of projects experience reduced returns due to technical issues and unplanned downtime.

Frontier Energy has revealed a multi-stage expansion strategy for its Waroona solar and battery project being developed in Western Australia’s southwest, targeting up to 1 GW of PV generation capacity and 660 MW of battery energy storage by 2031.