C&I solar

Victorian utility North East Water have constructed a mini-solar farm over the carpark of their Wodonga headquarters. The 132 kW system is expected to provide half of the building’s energy use, with 330 modules generating 500kW per day in addition to the headquarter’s existing rooftop PV array.

It’s crunch time for renewables and McCain Foods is chipping in with what is being called Australia’s largest ‘behind-the-meter’ renewable energy system at its production facility in Ballarat. The 8.2 MW system will feature 17, 000 solar panels and a co-generation technology feeding on scrap potato skins.

With its abundance of metal rooftops and an increasing appetite for quality components and installations, the Australian rooftop solar segment is primed for the adoption of “direct- attach” mounting systems. U.S.-based S-5! believes this is the case and is working with installers and EPCs to increase awareness of its PVKIT 2.0 – which it claims allows for faster and less complicated installations.

With three models of 500 W solar panels officially unveiled, here’s a look at what it means for the future of project development and the solar industry at large.

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and the Bank of Queensland Finance Division (BOQF) are teaming up to provide $100 million in financing for clean energy upgrades to their facilities, equipment and fleets. The BOQF Energy Efficient Finance will provide loans at a 0.7% discount, drawing on the CEFC funds, to businesses looking to invest in upgrades and equipment that will reduce emissions and deliver savings on energy costs.

On Friday, ReNu Energy signed an agreement for the sale of its solar assets, including Shopping Centres Australasia arrays, to commercial-rooftop-solar startup CleanPeak Energy.

The Clean Energy Regulator (CER) released its 2018 Administrative Report on Thursday, and not only does it predict that Australia will easily meet its 2020 Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (RET), but that the target will be exceeded substantially. Moreover, in the last year commercial factors overtook government incentives as the main driver of renewable investment – a watershed moment and one in which commercial and industrial solar arrays is playing no small role.  

Voltage regulation creates challenges for grid operation, particularly at high penetration levels of solar and other distributed renewables. Fresh being recognised as energy transition pioneers at the recent Startup Energy Transition (SET) Awards in Berlin, Planet Ark Power and its behind-the-meter technology is looking to dynamize Australia’s, and the world’s, energy grids with distributed clean energy.

In an ASX announcement today, Queensland-based independent power producer ReNu Energyannounced that it has entered into a Heads of Agreement (HOA) with Shopping Centres Australasia Property Group (SCA Property Group) for a further four solar PV and embedded network projects at shopping centres in Queensland and Victoria.

AGL has completed a 2.12 MW ground-mounted solar PV system at Santos’ Port Bonython hydrocarbon processing plant in Whyalla, South Australia. The installation represents a step in the right direction for Santos’ emissions reduction program.