Oceania

Australia’s rooftop segment is a world beater. But there remain problems with quality, and installations and the components not living up to some of the claims of suppliers, says SMA’s John Susa. The Executive Vice President Global Sales and Service for the company is in Melbourne for All-Energy Australia and he says it‘s time for real-world performance of components to live up to claims on their data sheets.

The Clean Energy Council and Monash Business School have combined forces to provide an educational scholarship for women in the renewable energy industry looking to better their negotiation and public speaking skills. The grant looks to help drive gender diversification in leadership positions in the renewable energy industry. 

The Northern Territory Government has released a discussion paper as it looks to form a coherent strategy toward electric vehicle integration.

German inverter giant SMA Solar Technology reports that the Australian large scale solar market has exceeded its expectations in 2019, as big PV projects continue to move forward despite regulatory uncertainty. Boris Wolff, SMA Executive Vice President for utility scale and projects considers Australia a “blueprint” market for the company’s expanded modeling and grid connection services.

The Chinese manufacturer has officially unveiled its high-efficiency product in Melbourne after celebrating a 13.6 MW panel order from the nascent Hungarian PV market.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has undertaken a review on how Australia compares with other international power systems and suggested that the theoretical limits on wind and solar penetration may need to be defined with an eye on the power system stability.

SolarEdge, one of the world’s foremost solar inverter companies, has announced its shift toward electric vehicles (EVs) with the release of its EV charging single phase inverter.

The Brisbane-based energy storage manufacturer has been approved by Australia’s Clean Energy Council for its SunRise Home Battery system.

SMA has introduced a firmware update to its inverter range that will take whole or partially shaded modules out of the power output equation. The SMA ShadeFix feature is active as of September and the company promises it will assist rooftop PV array perform optimally in the event of partial shading from trees or rooftop structures like chimneys.

Electricity is the single biggest cost incurred in the winemaking process. Looking to save on bills, and save the environment, wineries across Australia are rapidly up-taking solar PV.