Australia

The second stage of the first grid-scale solar plant in Australia, the Greenough River Solar Farm, will deploy German power electronics, with SMA announcing it has picked up a contract to supply the 30 MW development.

The Victorian government has extended its solar battery rebate from the initial 24 to 104 postcodes. Meanwhile, the demand for solar panel rebates has slightly slowed down.

Australia’s rooftop PV has become the country’s biggest potential energy resource. To harness it requires that millions of household and commercial generators cede control of their hard-won, sunny patch. A new research entity has been launched to understand energy consumers’ passions and motivators, and facilitate a fair and equitable social contract — no pressure!

Hybrid home battery/inverter systems were the hot ticket at All Energy Australia last month. Those that provide back-up capacity will change the lives of people living in blackout-prone areas.

It may come as a volt from the blue, but solar PV still has enormous unexplored potential. With the help of a globally renowned startup accelerator, a team from UNSW’s famous photovoltaics division is taking solar generation out of the ‘burbs and into the urban jungle.

Australian manufacturer RedEarth has announced a new energy storage system for the Australian commercial and industrial market using technology from the global engineering and technology company, Siemens.

Genex Power has failed to lock in a previously announced offtake agreement with EnergyAustralia for its landmark Kidston hub in northern Queensland and requested a trading halt with the ASX on their securities.

Hydro Tasmania has released a white paper pushing the island state’s claims to become the Battery of the Nation via upgrades to the Victoria-Tasmania interconnector, an effort to unblock the backlog of solar and wind.

Across Australia shopping centres are starting to realise their expansive car parks are the perfect solar farms. Not only do the centres get solar energy at peak times, but customers can avoid the real threat of car-related bodily burns by parking in the shade of a solar array.

While it seeks to build one of Australia’s biggest coal mines, Adani has grown more cautious on solar investment after suffering connection delays on its first renewables project in Australia.