Victorian apple farmer installs vanadium battery to increase solar consumption
A vanadium redox flow battery will be installed at a family-owned apple orchard located in Pakenham on the edge of the Gippsland region to complement onsite solar.
New AER report finds energy affordability still major difficulty for Australians
The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) released its Affordability in Retail Energy Markets report today. The findings show a disproportionate energy cost burden on low-income households and its impact in driving uptake of rooftop PV.
Victoria solar rebate snapped up in under one hour
Even with the boosted solar rebate offering, this month’s first round quota was taken up in minutes. Another 3,250 rebates are due to be released on Tuesday, September 17.
Solar Victoria portal crashes as expanded rooftop PV rebate opens
Only hours after the release of the boosted September allocation of rooftop PV rebates, Solar Victoria’s application portal crashed, leaving applicants frustrated.
Solar Victoria heeds solar industry activism, frees up 23,000 solar PV rebates
The Victorian Government has heeded solar industry and customer concerns and wrought substantial changes to the Solar Homes Rebate Program, including a significant increase in rebate allocations and a streamlining of the laborious online application portal.
A graphene-based supercapacitor that’s also…. a t-shirt?
Scientists at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology have developed a method for producing a ‘smart fabric’ with a supercapacitor energy storage device embedded in it. Its developers say it can be readily integrated with a solar cell or used to power wearable technology.
Food and energy tussle as Victoria approves three controversial new solar farms
The Andrews Government has approved three new solar farms in the Shepparton region with a combined generative power of 175 MW. However, some residents are upset at the loss of prime agricultural land and the now redundant irrigation equipment which had been upgraded through government grants.
Victorian industrial agriculture joins rapid uptake in rooftop solar
One of Victoria’s largest industrial solar power stations has been built at the Nine Mile Fresh apple processing and packing facility in South East Gippsland, a 1.4 MW system that will save the high-tech industrial agriculture business at least a third on its spiralling energy bills.
Canadian Solar continues to expand operations and maintenance fleet
The Chinese-Canadian solar giant’s Operations & Maintenance (O&M) portfolio in Australia is now over 875 MWp after the company announced it had sealed deals with three solar PV plants coming in at a combined capacity of 300 MWp.
La Trobe University set to become Victoria’s first zero-emissions university
La Trobe University has committed itself to a goal of Net Zero emissions by 2029 with a new $75 million initiative. Though La Trobe will not be Australia’s first clean energy university, its project might just be the most ambitious.
