offgrid solar

A new survey from US-based impact measurement company 60 Decibels shows off-grid energy customers are currently facing a series of challenges such as product affordability, gender inequality, customer support, further investment in minigrids, and over-indebtedness. The report, however, reveals that most users say the quality of their lives “very much improved” thanks to off-grid PV.

Mineral Resources has become the latest Australian miner to incorporate solar into its energy strategy after installing a solar-plus-storage system at its Wonmunna iron ore mine in Western Australia. The clean energy system will provide about one-third of the mine’s energy.

Western Australia’s Horizon Power is relatively unique among electric utilities – it supplies small cities, big and small agricultural and mining operations, and some of the most remote indigenous communities in the world. It has been a genuine pioneer in delivering cheaper, cleaner power through a combination of renewables and energy storage. It’s also awake to the opportunities for solar and storage to empower the Aboriginal and Torres-Strait Islander communities it serves, explains Horizon’s Roanna Edwards.

A new report from the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) shows that the renewable energy sector in Australia has exhibited resilience with 1.3 GW of new installed capacity despite the economic challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. While rooftop PV continued to thrive in the first three months of this year, the construction of large-scale projects was generally on track with minimal delays.

In a major reform of the energy rules, distribution businesses across Australia will be allowed to service remote areas with stand-alone power systems and avoid costly network upgrades.

The German-headquartered project developer has signed a deal with Pacific Energy’s subsidiary Contract Power to build a hybrid renewable energy project that will power the town of Esperance.

A new venture funded by the Cannon-Brookes family is looking to install stand-alone solar and battery systems at up to 100 sites around Australia affected by recent bushfires and floods.

With the help of solar PV and zinc-bromine batteries, a cattle station located in the dry Murchison region northeast of Geraldton will save as much as $10,000 a year in diesel costs.