Oceania

The UK is leaping ahead in its deployment of electric-vehicle charge infrastructure. Box Energi has chosen Australia’s Tritium Veefil-RT technology to double refill sites around the UK, boosting not only charge accessibility and driving range, but confidence in emissions-free commuting and touring.

Large scale solar PV farm cleaners Australian Solar Maintenance (ASM) are putting Bazza, Gazza and Sheila to work – custom tractors they reckon can boost solar yields at sites heavily impacted by soiling.

South Australia’s virtual power plant is nearing the potential Phase 3, which could see 50,000 homes connected becoming the equivalent of a 250 MW network of decentralized power generating units.

As it transitions from a wind-dominated renewable energy mix to include a wider range of energy options such as large-scale PV, pumped hydro and battery storage projects, South Australia is considering new planning policies.

The Independent Planning Commission has approved a $94 million solar project near Gunnedah in New South Wales, under some added conditions.

The Victorian Labor Government announced in August last year a $1.3 billion “Solar Homes” package to assist homeowners in installing solar PV systems. The scheme will be offered to 770,000 Victorian households for the next 10 years and is in addition to the Federal STC ‘rebate’.

With an electricity sector policy vacuum on a federal level, and grid constraints facing large scale PV project developers, there are ample reasons to be pessimistic about Australia’s solar-fueled energy transition. Indigo Power Co-founder Cam Klose says that many promising developments are rather taking place on the ‘distributed’ level and beyond the big cities – with Yackandandah leading the way.

The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) released its 2018 Administrative Report on Thursday, and not only does it predict that Australia will easily meet its 2020 Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (RET), but that the target will be exceeded substantially. Moreover, in the last year commercial factors overtook government incentives as the main driver of renewable investment – a watershed moment and one in which commercial and industrial solar arrays is playing no small role.  

The South Australian government is looking to extend its Home Battery Scheme subsidy of up to $6000 and low interest loans to rental properties, property developers and aged care facilities.

The Smart Energy Council and Solar Cutters assembled a group of installers to send the message that the Solar Homes rebate scheme is damaging the Victorian solar sector today. The rally was also supported by the Clean Energy Council (CEC), which has called for the Solar Homes rebate to be reduced, and the monthly installation cap ended.