South Australia

The South Australian government is offering concession holders a free, new solar system in exchange for their concession payments as part of a pilot program.

South Australia is leading the nation in terms of renewable energy penetration, with rooftop solar a major contributor. But the state’s hard-won ability to deactivate thousands of rooftop solar systems in response to grid voltage disturbances has caused significant disruptions to solar installers. With a deeper look inside the changes, it appears to be a good thing for solar in the state, as well as other markets in which distributed PV is growing rapidly.

Australia’s record-breaking uptake of small-scale rooftop solar and growing interest in home battery systems almost guarantee virtual power plants (VPP) will play a key role in the nation’s energy system into the future and Energy Networks Australia (ENA) has identified the “blueprint” for their successful integration into the grid.

Some 2,400 South Australians will soon be fogging up the bathroom mirror without qualms about the cost of heating water, as Solahart implements a trial that controls hot water systems to put in their main effort when the sun is high.

Flinders University in Adelaide has announced its campuses and facilities are now officially 100% powered by renewable energy from campus-based solar arrays and a local wind farm.

Australia’s record-breaking embrace of residential and commercial solar PV continues to reduce grid demand in the nation’s electricity systems and has delivered a “world first” for South Australia with solar power matching 100% of the state’s underlying demand for the first time on record.

Nicola Murphy, SA Water’s Senior Manager, Zero Cost Energy Futures has the sunniest disposition as she works steadily to ensure the substantial energy needs of the state’s vital water utility are solar powered from source to faucet.

An unexpected loss of more than 400 MW of rooftop PV in South Australia earlier this month has reinforced how critical accurate forecasting tools are for the management of networks with high shares of renewable energy.

AGL remains on track to add at least 850 MW of new large-scale battery storage to its portfolio by 2024 after securing energy storage technology companies Fluence and Wärtsilä to supply up to 1 GW of grid-scale battery storage.

South Australia rounded out 2020 with a record-setting day, in which solar and wind supplied 99.6% of demand on the state’s electricity network on Dec. 27. But as solar veteran and Amrock MD Pierre Verlinden explains, there is some serious infrastructure needed if the state is to realise its 100% renewable ambition.