United States

Fundraising activity for solar leaped in the July-to-September period to provide healthy quarterly and year-so-far comparisons on 2018.

Scientists at the University of Texas have made a discovery they say has “altered the understanding of the fundamental properties of perovskite crystals”. Their findings could improve understanding of defect formation in perovskites, leading to devices with enhanced performance and stability.

The latest edition of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report reiterates that clean power is taking the lead in the world’s energy system and nuclear is not only too costly a remedy for carbon emissions but too slow to deploy.

Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of Atlassian Corp, has used the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York to announce plans to help fund the ambitious 10 GW, $20 billion, Sun Cable Project in the Northern Territory (NT).

The Australian Space Agency (ASA) has joined the next generation, or rather this generation, space race, between the U.S. and China. A $150 million investment from the Morrison Government into the ASA will see Australia partner with NASA on its next sustainable exploratory missions.

The global expansion of PV, wind power and other clean energies will see double-digit growth this year as solar continues to lead the pack.

MIT scientists claim to have created a material 10 times more black than anything witnessed to date. It is said to be able to absorb more than 99.96% of incoming light and reflect 10 times less light than other superblack materials. The invention may be interesting for the development of black silicon PV technology and carbon nanotube-based solar cells.

Today we have heard of farmers in Australia unhappy at the approval given for three solar projects on agricultural land and also learned the benefits PV can bring for fish and shrimp farmers. In this op-ed for pv magazine USA, Stoel Rives LLP attorneys Sara Bergan and Thomas Braun discuss the balancing act to be made between solar and agriculture in the emerging Midwestern PV market.

In an effort to replace two aging power plants, Hawaiian Electric Industries has launched a roughly 900 MW procurement, the largest in the utility’s history, across the islands of Oahu, Maui and Hawaii.

Two reports have described how the world’s largest renewable energy market is moving towards maturity. According to the Brookings Institution, the Chinese clean energy market could become more open to Western investors and tech. A report by Fitch claims projects are moving back to inland provinces from coastal regions.