Australia

Premium PV module producer and supplier LG Electronics Australia has increased its product warranty to 25 years. Having sold some 750,000 modules in Australia to date, LG reports a “very, very small” number of warranty claims.

There is already enough renewable energy projects under construction or generating to meet the Renewable Energy Target (RET). The Clean Energy Regulator officially confirmed today that the RET would be met, making a mockery of claims by former Environment Minister Greg Hunt that it was “simply not possible” to meet the original RET.

Single-axis tracking technology will be deployed in the vast majority of Australian large scale solar projects currently under development. Rystad Energy made the observation in its latest research note, adding that at present two companies share 90% of the confirmed orders.

A new partnership is looking to introduce 10-year solar leases to WA. By targeting new builds and housing developments and halving the standard lease duration, the partnership aims to make solar leases attractive – where previously they have failed to gain traction.

Green Energy Markets’ small-scale solar figures for April reveal that above 100 MW is emerging as the new normal for the segment in 2018. While the month was below the record-setting 127 MW in March, April’s 109 MW indicates that installations north of 100 MW can be expected from the residential and small commercial sector for some time into the future.

Through a study funded by ARENA, the distributed database platform blockchain will be used by Latrobe Valley dairy farmers to buy and sell locally generated renewable energy.

Bringing electricity demand closer into line with supply will be one of the keys if Australia is to meet the disruptive challenges facing its market, and it’s an approach that could restore the country’s role as an energy leader. A steep challenge but optimistic outlook was offered by AEMO CEO Aubrey Zibelman in a wide-ranging address earlier this week.

Blockchain-enabled peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading will be trialed by Japanese utility KEPCO, under a new agreement with Power Ledger announced this week. Meagan Cojocar, an analyst with the Perth-based company says Japan is the ideal location for the Power Ledger as the country’s energy drive self sufficiently and its “crypto friendly” attitude.

Fronius is introducing its Ohmpilot solution to the Australian market. The Ohmpilot is a consumption regulator that can utilize solar electricity not used in the home to heat water in boilers or buffer storage tanks.

Image Resources has signed a deal with Perth-based Sunrise Energy Group to purchase the power from a 3-4 MW solar PV array, to power 25% of its mineral sands mining operations.