Around the world, businesses are entering a new era of accountability. The shift toward mandatory climate-related financial disclosures is transforming how organisations understand and govern key drivers of financial performance.

In 2021, Australia’s Coalition government pledged to reach net zero by 2050. Four years later, the Coalition have reversed course. After successive election losses, the Liberal and National parties have settled on a new climate strategy: give up on net zero and keep coal plants running longer.

Picture dusk falling somewhere in the Solomon Islands. A fisher’s skiff glides home using a whisper-quiet electric outboard motor. In the Cook Islands, a big battery steadies the island grid. In Papua New Guinea’s highlands, solar kits bring electric light to homes for the first time.

It was the news that rippled around the nation – and then the world: at least three hours of free grid-supplied electricity for Australian households, every day.

The last five years have placed unprecedented strain on global supply chains. Geopolitical tensions, trade wars, natural disasters and the global pandemic have revealed vulnerabilities across industries.

Chinese manufacturer Sunman is to build a 500 MW per annum solar module production facility in the New South Wales Hunter Valley after securing funding support from both the state and federal governments.

Western Australian clean energy tech provider Plico will target all states and territories with its combined rooftop solar, home batteries and virtual power plant offering after securing up to $35 million in federal government funding.

The Australian Energy Market Operator says “timely investments” are essential to unlock the full value of renewables and reduce reliance on coal generators for system security as the nation’s clean energy transition continues.

Global grid-scale battery energy storage system deployments have hit 156 GWh year-to-date. More than 153 GWh is still slated for commissioning in 2025, though delays and cancellations are likely to trim that total by year-end.

Undertaking a fast tracked, single stage application process the Capacity Investment Scheme Tender 8 – NEM Dispatchable Capacity has opened for registrations and is targeting 4 GW of 4-hour equivalent.

Mining giant Fortescue’s decarbonisation plans have reached a new milestone with the delivery of a 50 MW / 250 MWh battery energy storage system at its North Star Junction site in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

The Chinese manufacturer said the higher-voltage design of the new module reduces cable, combiner, pile-foundation, and land-use requirements, delivering balance-of-system savings of up to CNY 0.15 ($0.032)/W in western China. The module offers a power output of 730 W to 770 W and a conversion efficiency of up to 24.8%.

A collaborative project focussing on the development of connected and islandable microgrids within the Australian distribution network has been launched in New South Wales.

pv magazine spoke with Australian solar panel manufacturer Tindo Chief Executive Officer Richard Petterson about the company’s future expansion on the back of Solar Sunshot funding, and how it plans to tackle current market and manufacturing challenges to stay on course for future growth.

Western Power has launched Western Australia’s first distributed energy resources text lab at it’s South Metro Depot to trial how rooftop solar, batteries, electric vehicles and smart appliances can connect, communicate and interact.

JinkoSolar says it has increased the efficiency rating for its perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells from 34.22% to 34.76%, confirmed by China’s National PV Metric and Testing Centre.

The Chinese manufacturer says Germany’s Institute for Solar Energy Research Hamelin (ISFH) has independently verified the result.

Graphene producer First Graphene has secured exclusive global graphene carbon paste production and sales rights with perovskite cell developer and manufacturer Halocell Australia.

Ampyr Australia has signed a 15-year agreement for its Bulabul battery energy storage system near Wellington, New South Wales, in the Central West Orana renewable energy zone with Danish energy trading company InCommodoties.

The China-based organic photovoltaics manufacturer has launched a line of indoor PV modules suitable for integration into digital office products and electronic devices.

In a new scientific paper, the Chinese solar manufacturer explained that the 27.81%-efficient hybrid interdigitated back-contact cell it unveiled in April is based on passivated tunneling contacts and dielectric passivation layers, while also incorporating both n-type and p-type contacts.

The quality assurance firm updated its inverter manufacturer financial stability ranking with Kstar Science and Technology, APSystems and Delta Electronics in the top three spots. It reported 19 manufacturers showing “strong financial resilience” based on Altman-Z scores.

In a new scientific paper, the Chinese solar manufacturer explained that the 27.81%-efficient hybrid interdigitated back-contact cell it unveiled in April is based on passivated tunnelling contacts and dielectric passivation layers, while also incorporating both n-type and p-type contacts.

Fox ESS is ramping up its presence in Australia with nationwide sales and techical support teams and is building local warehousing for its suite of inverters, electric vehicle chargers, and battery storage products, such as the EQ4800 and new CQ6.

Chinese manufacturer Phono has launched a new bifacial solar panel in the Australian market featuring an output of 475 W and a power conversion efficiency of 23.27%.

A redesigned hybrid solar and battery project now featuring 200 MW of PV generation and a beefed up 2.2 GWh of energy storage capacity planned for far northern New South Wales has joined the queue for federal environmental approval.

French-owned energy group Engie has commenced construction of a new large-scale battery that is says will deliver more capacity and flexibility to the South Australian electricity grid.

The Western Australia government is looking to deploy a vanadium flow battery energy storage system with up to 10 hours of discharge capacity to help improve regional power reliability in the state’s Goldfields region.

Akaysha Energy’s anticipated status update on Australia’s biggest battery that saw a major transformer fail gave some answers but was tight-lipped on key outstanding questions. The company also announced the project is in a scheduled shutdown until December 2.

The quality assurance service provider’s latest financial stability ranking has Tesla, Mustang Battery and Solid Power in the top three spots again, in a report that tracks manufacturers’ Altmann-Z scores over the past three years.