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.
Solar Victoria investigation uncovers no AI interference in Solar Homes
Following up suspicions raised by the state’s solar installer community, Solar Victoria launched an investigation into whether artificial intelligence (AI) had been deployed to exploit registrations for the rooftop PV subsidy. The investigation has concluded that there was no AI interference in the Solar Homes portal.
200 MW solar project nipped in the bud as VCAT hands down decision
In a major battle over land use, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal has decided to refuse a planning permit for the 200 MW Bookaar Solar Farm, near Camperdown.
Parliamentary inquiry into controversial Solar Homes rebate voted down
Labor MPs together with three crossbench MPs have voted down an inquiry in the Upper House on how the Victorian government’s Solar Homes program was put together and is being implemented. The push for an inquiry was promised to the solar industry by Opposition leader Michael O’Brien at a protest held in late July.
