Solcast, a DNV company, reports that most of Australia experienced above-average solar irradiance in January 2026 due to a hot, dry airmass and clear skies, boosting PV generation despite operational challenges from elevated temperatures, bushfire smoke, and dust. In contrast, northern Queensland and far northern regions saw significant irradiance deficits.

Australia is still dragging its feet on decarbonising the economy. Last September, the Albanese government committed to a 62–70% reduction in carbon emissions by 2035 and net zero by 2050. However, only one month later, the government conceded it would fall just shy of its 2030 target and likely miss net zero without significant changes.

Curtailment remains one of the clearest signs of the challenges that face both existing and new solar and wind projects in the NEM. Rising levels of curtailment are increasingly shaping development decisions for both greenfield and brownfield projects across the solar and wind fleet. While interest in ‘hybrid’ projects is growing, they still represent only a small share of current installed capacity.

The past three years have been the world’s hottest on record. In 2025, Earth was 1.44°C warmer than the long-term average, perilously close to breaching the Paris Agreement goal of 1.5°C.

Around a fifth of solar panels examined in a new study fail much faster than expected and some may last for only half their anticipated lifetime.

China-headquartered renewable energy technology provider Fox ESS has partnered with Origin Energy to enable its home battery storage systems to connect to the Origin Loop virtual power plant.

The latest report from the International Energy Agency’s Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme says second-life PV modules have the potential to reduce waste and extend the value of solar assets, but their market today remains underdeveloped and requires advances in technical qualifications, scalable reuse infrastructure and supportive policy frameworks.

Solar energy has chipped in 16% of Victoria’s 40% 2025 renewable target, which itself has been smashed with green energy powering a solid 44.6% of the state’s electricity in that year.

South Australian remote and off-grid clean energy specialist MyEnergy Engineering has sponsored a grid-connected solar upgrade for an iconic South Australian surf life saving club.

Sydney-based critical infrastructure digital twin modelling company Neara has closed a $90 million Series D funding round to accelerate its focus on solving global infrastructure challenges.

Three Sigenergy commercial and industrial inverters have been approved for the Australiain market by Clean Energy Council, and are available for order.

The Portuguese company said its new Drone AgroPV Cleaning Agent is scheduled for release in June. It has a safe formulation for crops and soil.

Renewable energy land acquisition brokerage Rok Solid is seeing data centre operators increasingly move development to regional sites and choosing off-grid solutions such as gas and solar to counter metropolitan grid constraints.

Norwegian fire safety specialist Bridgehill has developed a fire-resistant roofing membrane designed for use beneath rooftop PV systems. The company says the product is intended to limit heat transfer and flame spread in commercial and industrial installations subject to strict fire safety and insurance requirements.

Real-world testing of an artifical intelligence-enabled energy management system and virtual power plant technology is underway in Dubbo, through a TRaCE funded collaboration between the University of New South Wales, Sungrow and Dubbo Regional Council.

Major Chinese inverter and energy storage solution company KSTAR has joined the Smart Energy Council as an essential member in the lead up to its launch of a new residential energy storage solution to the Australian market.

South Australian clean energy technology recycling developer Iondrive has reported early laboratory results from its proprietary IONSolv metal extraction platform shown greater than 85% silver extraction efficiency in initial bench-scale testing.

The Western Australia government has partnered with traditional owners of Ngarluma Country in the Pilbara, and Perth based conglomerate Perdaman, to progress the Ngarluma Green Energy Park with the development of a proposed 50 MW solar farm.

South Korean researchers have developed a guided-learning framework that accurately predicts PV power without requiring irradiance sensors during operation, using routine meteorological data instead. The model reportedly showed strong out-of-sample performance while outperforming conventional irradiance-based approaches, particularly under noisy or inconsistent data conditions.

The IP66-rated Aura 5000 energy storage system features bidirectional inverter functionality and an AC output of up to 2.5 kW.

Italian inverter manufacturer Fimer has launched a new advanced photovoltaic array sizing simulation tool that combines real site data with customer behaviour accessed through its cloud-based project management platform Aurora Vision.

The New South Wales government has approved a new copper mine it says will support the state’s renewable energy transition and reinforce its place in global clean energy technology supply chains.

Researchers at NREL found that UV exposure can cause significant, partly non-recoverable degradation in TOPCon solar cells, with strong cell-to-cell and intra-cell variability linked to passivation and processing inconsistencies. While some UV-related losses recover quickly under light and are unlikely to affect field performance, the findings highlight gaps in current qualification tests and the need for improved UV aging standards.

UNSW researchers identified a new damp-heat degradation mechanism in TOPCon modules with laser-fired contacts, driven primarily by rear-side recombination and open-circuit voltage loss rather than series-resistance increase. The study highlights that magnesium in white EVA encapsulants accelerates degradation, guiding improved encapsulant and backsheet selection for more reliable modules in humid environments.

The new Tesla Solar Panel and mounting system pairs with the company’s inverter, Powerwall battery, EV charging and vehicles, creating an all-Tesla residential solar offering for the first time.

EnergyAustralia’s 50 MW / 245 MW Stage 1 Hallett battery energy storage system, co-located with a gas-fired power station in South Australia has reached financial close and is now moving into the delivery phase.

Ebor battery storage system developers US-headquartered Energy Vault and Queensland’s Bridge Energy have been awarded a Long-Term Energy Service Agreement under the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap.

London-based clean energy developer Revera Energy has bagged a $213 million facility to accelerate a multi-GW pipeline in Australia and the United Kingdom.

FRV Australia has been awarded a long duration storage LTESA for 157.5 MW of its 315 MW / 1,260 MWh utility-scale Armidale East battery energy storage system.

Western Australia’s state-owned electricity gentailer Synergy has announced one of Australia’s biggest batteries, the 500 MW / 2.4 GWh Collie battery energy storage system is now operational.