Oceania

pv magazine’s social media and comments are clamouring for more information on how the West Murray challenge is being won. SMA and AEMO will keep us updated as testing of an inverter-based solution progresses throughout this week, but here’s the latest on the Sunny Central inverter family and the team that makes it play in tune.

This week is crunch time for the testing of an SMA-devised solution to the system-strength issue that has kept five solar farms generating at half capacity for seven months. If successful, the fix has positive implications for connecting more solar in Victoria, Queensland, the Northern Territory and beyond.

Sydney-based Solar Car Parks has partnered with Schletter Australia to launch the Heliopark range of solar car ports in Australia and Asia. Solar Car Parks says that beyond shading and power production, the Heliopark system can help prepare shopping centres for increasing demand from Evs.

About 10 years ago, perovskite solar cells (PSCs) made their entry into the world of PV with a power conversion efficiency of 3.8%. Fast forward to 2020, and PSCs are the talk of the town, with a string of impressive laboratory achievements to their name. Global research efforts have shifted toward PSCs as efficiencies keep on getting thrashed on a regular basis. But is it too soon to say that the technology is ready for commercialization?

Analyzing its fleet of solar sites, Solar Analytics has found that energy consumption in households due to Covid-19 confinement is up only slightly, if at all. While this is good news, the great news is that the onsite consumption of free solar power in these households is up significantly.

In the five weeks between subsidy step-down being announced and implemented under the $100 million Home Battery Scheme, more than 5,000 subsidies were approved.

The Chinese PV module maker’s 132 MW PV project in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region has completed all pre-commissioning testing and is now starting the commissioning process.

SA Water has bought a significant portion of land from ExxonMobil Port Stanvac oil refinery to build a large-scale solar farm to generate energy for its neighbouring Adelaide Desalination Plant. The project is part of SA Water’s $300 million investment in solar and energy storage.

Stubbo Solar Farm has submitted a scoping report to the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, the first step of a State Significant Development.

The Covid-19 pandemic will create a “perfect storm” for the wholesale electricity market as lower demand comes together with lower gas prices and large-scale solar and wind being commissioned to depress power prices, finds a report by Melbourne-based consultancy RepuTex.