rooftop solar

South Australian-based company Reclaim PV estimates it will open Australia’s first commercial solar-panel recycling plant in mid 2019. Its high-energy founders also have a broader mission — to inform better environmental practices throughout the solar value chain.

Australia’s solar PV capacity additions tripled in 2018, as its rooftop solar fleet continued to set new records high and big PV experienced an unprecedented growth. While stabilization in electricity prices could lead to a slowdown in the rooftop solar segment in all states except Victoria, it is unlikely to result in a noticeable decline in sales in 2019. Large-scale solar PV is in line for over 3 GW this coming year, while small power stations up to 5 MW will also get their time to shine.

As part of its Roadmap to Renewables Plan and transition to 50% renewable energy by 2030, the NT government is set to roll out rooftop solar on up to 25 schools across the state over the next three years.

The number of Australian homes with solar PV systems installed on their rooftops has passed a two million milestone, show Clean Energy Regulator data. With an average of six panels installed a minute, the uptake shows no signs of subsiding.

If maintained, Australia’s current rate of installs would deliver 78% renewables by 2030, find Green Energy Markets in its latest edition of RE Index. The 50% renewables target proposed by the the Federal Labor Party and several state Labor governments would thus deliver a sharp market decline, with installations falling to a third of recent rates and workforce shrinking by three quarters.

The Australia aged care specialist has embarked on an energy efficiency program, which will see over 10,600 solar panels and more than 28,000 LED lights installed at 54 of its properties.

As 2.1 GW of new capacity – mostly wind, solar and storage – has come online in the previous year, AEMO has sourced much less additional reserves than last year to manage potential high risk scenarios that typically occur in summer. Over the next two years, the market operator expects 6 GW of new wind and solar capacity to be connected to the grid, which will alleviate the short-term risk of involuntary load shedding during summer peak periods.

Major universities across Australia are turning to solar PV to bring down energy costs, and to show leadership on climate change. In addition to deploying rooftop arrays across campuses, they are now developing their own renewable energy assets and coming to inventive financial arrangements, emerging as torchbearers in this booming corporate PPA market.

The amount of large-scale solar capacity that commenced generation during the third quarter of 2018 was higher than the NEM’s entire large-scale solar capacity at the start of the year, reports the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). In other news, Western Australia has pass the 1 GW solar milestone, while South Australia has seen record levels of curtailment.