The International Solar Energy Society explains how Australia’s rapid expansion of solar and wind energy has not increased wholesale electricity prices, which have remained stable since 2016. Rooftop solar, now widespread and highly cost-effective, provides the country with resilient, low-emission power, making all-electric homes increasingly independent from the grid.

Over the weekend the federal government announced major changes to its $2.3 billion home battery subsidy program. The changes include nearly $5 billion in extra funding and adjustments to the financial support provided for different-sized batteries. They follow recent reporting that the program is subsidising unnecessarily large home batteries and blowing out in cost.

Post-COP30 analysis has centred on the contentious debate over fossil-fuel phase-out wording. Yet the most significant development for the solar sector was not part of the negotiating text at all.

The Australian electricity industry has transformed over the past two decades, driven by the rise of household solar and other renewable energy sources. Since 2010, supported by government incentives and improving technology, rooftop solar installations have surged.

The federal government’s $2.3 billion Cheaper Home Batteries Program is subsidising unnecessarily large energy storage systems and blowing out in cost.

Australia’s rooftop solar market climbed by 22% in the past month with the latest data revealing that 334 MW of small-scale PV capacity was installed on household and business roofs across the country in December 2025.

Australia’s largest energy transmission project has reached a new milestone with the last of more than 1,500 steel towers constructed along the 700-kilometre New South Wales stretch of the EnergyConnect development that links the state’s energy grid with those in Victoria and South Australia.

The Western Australia government has committed $2.7 million to support a Traditional Owner group in its bid to develop solar and battery energy storage projects with up to 5 GW of capacity in the state’s Pilbara region.

BloombergNEF projects a slight year-on-year dip in global solar additions in 2026 as China’s growth eases, even as installations elsewhere continue to rise.

Neoen Australia has launched construction of its third big battery in less than 90 days, helping accelerate the nation’s energy transition with 20 GW of utility scale solar, wind, gas, batteries and pumped hydro now either commissioning or under construction across the National Electricity Market.

The software tool uses self-supervised learning to detect long-term defects in solar assets weeks or years before conventional inspections, potentially reducing operations and maintenance costs.

Danish renewables major European Energy has secured development approval for its plans to build the 1.1 GW Upper Calliope Solar Farm near the industrial city of Gladstone in central Queensland.

The result relates to the company’s Comet 3N modules and has been confirmed by independent testing agency TÜV Nord in Germany.

Venergy Solar has completed what it says is one of the largest embedded network solar projects in Australia with 1,120 rooftop PV systems installed across four of property developer Stockland’s land-lease communities in Victoria.

The first solar-battery hybrid facility approved in the National Electricity Market, the $190 million Quorn Park Solar Hybrid project developed by Potentia Energy in New South Wales, has been energised.

Repurposed electric vehicle batteries have been used for the energy storage component of a solar and battery project that is now helping power operations at carmaker Nissan Australia’s aluminium casting plant in Victoria

The Chinese manufacturer has launched a new series of three-phase hybrid inverters ranging from 80 kW to 100 kW. The new products feature eight MPPTs with up to 42 A input current.

The research group led by Professor Martin Green has not published yet Version 67 of the solar cell efficiency tables, due to production delays. Green, however, has agreed to comment on some of the results to be added in the upcoming edition.

The Australian Energy Regulator has released its third annual export services network performance report on facilitating consumer energy resources in Australia’s two-way energy system.

French energy giant Engie will power all four Big Bash League cricket matches at the Engie Stadium, at the Sydney Olympic Park with government accredited GreenPower, starting 20 December 2025.

Japanese researchers have found sodium-ion batteries using hard carbon anodes can intrinsically charge faster than lithium-ion batteries, challenging long-held assumptions in battery research.

Transgrid and Elecnor Australia, construction partners on the $4.1 billion, 700 kilometre EnergyConnect transmission project have clocked more than 10 million worker hours on the epic project involving the construction of over 1,000 transmission towers.

South Korean researchers have developed a novel bilayer tin oxide electron transport layer for improving efficiency and stability of back-contact solar cells.

An Oxford researcher has found that transparent conducting electrodes can reduce perovskite–silicon tandem solar cell efficiency by over 2%, with losses linked to electrical resistance, optical effects, and geometric trade-offs. Using a unified optical–electrical model, the scientist showed how careful optimisation of TCE stacks, coatings, and cell design is critical to closing the gap toward the 37%–38% efficiency frontier.

A group of researchers from the University of New South Wales and Chinese module manufacturer Jolywood has conducted a comprehensive assessment of how laser-assisted firing processes influence the behaviour of TOPCon cells under the thermal conditions encountered during soldering, lamination, and high-temperature stress.

Electricity distributor Ausgrid will unlock 1 GW of transfer capacity from the Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone by upgrading its existing distribution poles and wires, instead of building of building new ones.

The national science agency’s latest update on the cost of meeting Australia’s future power needs has again found firmed renewables provide the lowest-cost option for electricity generation.

Australian shipbuilder Incat Tasmania has powered up the world’s largest battery-electric ship – and the largest electric vehicle of any type on the planet – and successfully completed its first e-motor trial in Hobart.

The agency tasked with helping manage Australia’s move to a net-zero economy has launched an interactive map featuring more than 800 Commonwealth-supported utility scale renewable energy and net-zero projects, transmission lines, and industrial projects.

Akaysha Energy, the battery storage platform backed by global funds giant Blackrock, has announced the completion of its first big battery project with the 155 MW / 298 MWh Ulinda Park energy storage system in Queensland now online.