Australia

Wollongong City Council is looking to install solar panels on its Stewart Street multi-story carpark as part of its continued focus on sustainability and net-zero emissions targets.

Researchers built the device by attaching 17%-efficient monocrystalline PV cells to a mortar roof tile that was doped with a phase-change material (PCM). The PCM solar tile provided 4.1% more power than the PV tile with no cooling agent in the winter, and 2.2% to 4.3% more during the summer.

As Covid-19 decimates the aviation industry, Melbourne Airport is set to make significant savings on its energy costs with the installation of a 12.4 MW solar farm, one of Australia’s largest behind-the-meter arrays, which will be able to power all four of the airport’s terminals.

The Australian government’s green bank intends to move beyond solar and wind investment over the coming year and put its capital to work in the nascent green hydrogen industry and grid projects.

Australia’s leading solar industry event will not take place in 2020. The organisers of the All-Energy Australia show announced the decision today, noting that the decision was made “with everyone’s health and safety as our number one priority.”

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCA), a shareholder advocacy group, has filed a Shareholder Resolution to AGL Energy calling for the expedited closure of its Bayswater and Loy Yang A coal-fired power stations. ACCA says that AGL’s own modelling contradicts both its climate commitment and its fiduciary responsibility.

The German PV inverter manufacturer’s multi-string storage solution is now in sync with BYD’s latest battery system.

The Spanish developer has successfully completed the 69.75 MW solar farm in New South Wales which is contracted under a power purchase agreement with government-owned retailer Snowy Hydro.

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) is calling for submissions on proposed rule changes that would address the integration of distributed energy resources, including enabling export charges as a pricing tool.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation is set to become the cornerstone investor in a BNP Paribas’ issuance $140 million in new Australian green bonds through its Australian Climate Transition Index, an index for investors to parse the companies that will survive and thrive into a decarbonised future from those who will decay and die.