United States

US solar tracker company Array Technologies is ready to expand its Australian presence after successfully delivering locally manufactured solar trackers for the 102 MW Glenrowan solar farm in mid-north Victoria.

Australian hydrogen technology company Star Scientific has inked an agreement to establish a joint research and manufacturing facility in the United States as it seeks to expand the market for its heat reaction technology that utilises renewable hydrogen to rapidly create heat for industrial applications.

The Australian government has doubled the amount of federal financing available for critical minerals projects to $4 billion (USD 2.56 billion) as it looks to shore up supply chains with the United States, deliver on emissions reduction targets, and build clean energy industries.

Government agency Export Finance Australia will provide $220 million (USD 140 million) to help finance Liontown’s Kathleen Valley Lithium project after involvement from Australia’s richest person, mining magnate Gina Rinehart, caused its giant Albemarle deal to collapse.

Leaders from Australian hydrogen startup Hysata are joining Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on his four-day visit to the US to meet President Joe Biden. Hysata is commercialising a hydrogen electrolysis breakthrough that claims to improve efficiency by 20%.

To help balance variable renewable generation, California has set flexible demand standards for pool controls. The standards will help the state achieve its target of 7 GW of load flexibility by 2030 while saving consumers money.

Meanwhile, the automaker’s energy storage unit boosted revenues by 40%, according to its Q3 earnings report.

The US Department of Energy has allocated USD 7 billion ($11 billion) for seven Regional Clean Hydrogen Hubs (H2Hubs) to deploy commercial-scale clean hydrogen, while the Mission Possible Partnership, RMI, Systemiq, Power2X, and industry leaders have set up the Transatlantic Clean Hydrogen Trade Coalition (H2TC) to ship US clean hydrogen to Europe by 2026.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientists have developed a train-like concentrated solar power (CSP) system for hydrogen production, with plans to build a prototype in the coming year. They say that this innovative system can capture up to 40% of the sun’s heat to produce environmentally friendly hydrogen fuel.

Scientists in the United States have achieved a breakthrough in PV cell tech by creating a 24 cm2 perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell. It positions a lithium fluoride interlayer between a hole transport layer and the perovskite absorber to reduce shunting losses.