Oceania

With all the benefits of its power optimization and smart monitoring system, SolarEdge’s new Smart Panels allows for quick installation, with the array’s key components all covered “under the same umbrella.” For installer Joe Harvey from SEA Solutions on the NSW Central Coast, the new integrated module offering has reduced costs for both him and his customers: “We’ve found that everyone wins.”

With its high wholesale power prices, attractiveness to capital, wide open spaces and abundant sunshine, there is every reason to believe Australia is a PV project developer’s nirvana. However, as the wreckage at the 55 MW Oakey 2 site in Queensland reveals, challenges under the Australian sun should not be taken lightly.

Located on a disused landfill that was once part of a coal mine, the newly completed solar farm will save ratepayers around $9 million over its 25-year lifespan.

Mirvac has become the first Australian property company to join RE100, reaffirming its commitment to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2030. Growing by a third with 40% of that growth coming from Asia and the South Pacific, the global initiative which brings together companies committed to sourcing all of their energy from renewables is experiencing its biggest year yet.

California-based Greentech startup ReCarbon, which recycles greenhouse gases by converting them into hydrogen, is targeting a big Australian investment.

Construction is underway on the first urban solar farm to harness the power of clean energy using Epho’s Bright Thinkers Power Station. The technology overcomes various constraints for solar in the city allowing installations to operate both behind and in front of the meter.

Victoria’s Essential Services Commission has proposed electricity retailers should offer PV owners the option to choose between a single rate feed-in tariff and a time-varying feed-in tariff, and set lower minimum rates for both.

All of the winemaker’s Australian sites are now using renewable electricity thanks to the completion of the nation’s largest combined winery solar installation and a 10-year power purchase agreement to source renewable electricity.

Tasmania’s ambitions of becoming the Battery of the Nation improve after early reports on the proposed Marinus Link, a second interconnector between Tasmania and Victoria, show the project’s economic advantages far outweigh expected costs.

The release of AEMO’s 2019/20 Summer Readiness Report has set the scene for another summer of excessive heat and risk for the grid. However, AEMO has stressed the importance of the influx of solar PV to the grid.