World

Sydney-headquartered climate tech platform Neara has secured $45 million in Series C funding to aid expansion into global markets of its AI-powered predictive modelling software, which helps utilities navigate clean energy transition complexities.

The results of this year’s Kiwa PVEL scorecard have shown that TOPCon technology is more vulnerable than PERC, and the failure rate at bill of materials has increased to 41%, the highest in history, according to the testing lab.

The International Energy Agency’s latest report, which maps out the future evolution of clean energy manufacturing, says the combined global market for PV, wind turbines, electric cars, batteries, electrolysers, and heat pumps will rise from $1 trillion in 2023 to more than $3 trillion by 2035.

Deal for 50.03% of Lightsource BP leaves oil and gas giant with total control of renewables developer. Lightsource BP is expected to continue trading with a standalone operating model, retaining its independent brand.

Researchers from Monash and the University of Queensland have developed a nanofiltration technology to extract lithium from low-grade saltwater brines with high magnesium content. “Our technology achieves 90 percent lithium recovery, nearly double the performance of traditional methods, while dramatically reducing the time required for extraction from years to mere weeks,” researcher Dr Zhikao Li said.

While Australia continues to be a revelatory solar market internationally, it lost its place in the top 10 solar installers globally in 2023, the IEA PVPS team reports. According to Renate Egan, Executive Director for the Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics, it is the first time in 30 years Australia has dropped off that list. “What’s sad is that the rest of the world is now taking off and investing in solar and we’re falling behind,” she said at Melbourne’s All Energy on Thursday.

A group of scientists conducted a literature review of almost a hundred fast maximum power point tracking algorithms. They extracted ten representative algorithms and showed which of them works best under different scenarios.

Energy Vault, a Swiss company which initially entered international markets with gravity-based storage technologies before expanding into lithium batteries, has signed a $350 million (USD 234 million) agreement with Australian developer Enervest to deliver a 1 GWh lithium battery for a site in Stoney Creek, NSW.

JinkoSolar and Trina Solar have separately reported that on-field testing shows tunnel oxide passivated contact (TOPCon) solar modules outperform p-type back-contact PV modules in monthly power generation.

Australia tops the leaderboard for reducing its use of unabated fossil fuels and increase in clean power through sources like solar energy, and faster than electricity demand, according to the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook 2024 report.