Solar PV

South Australia’s largest water and sewerage services supplier is set to add a utility-scale PV project to its solar fleet, as part of its plan to achieve zero net electricity costs by 2020. The project will feature solar modules provided by Chinese module giant JA Solar.

According to the Gold Member Solar Report by EnergyTrend (Q3 2018), monocrystalline module prices have fallen almost 20% this year, while those for polycrystalline modules have dropped by more than 25%. Increased consolidation among manufacturers and developers is expected to occur in China and the global solar market, with more merger deals, plans for capacity reductions and even factory closures.

The agency’s base case expects relatively flat growth in solar deployment over the next six years, but for solar to still dominate growth among renewable technologies. The agency’s estimates are again below those of major market analysts.

As part of its electricity market reforms, the Northern Territory’s government has announced plans to review its solar feed-in tariffs in order to encourage the existing solar households to add battery storage. It has also greenlit the 25 MW Katherine solar park, the state’s largest solar PV farm to date.

In addition to securing debt financing from a consortium of banks, the Australian-Chinese renewables developer has entered into a long-term equity partnership with global infrastructure investor John Laing for the investment and development of the Sunraysia Solar Farm. John Laing confirmed it will invest $108.6 million in the project, taking a 90.1% stake.

Owing to its state-based renewable energy initiatives, Victoria is in the box seat to create more than 6,000 jobs annually, shows a new analysis released by Green Energy Markets. Overall, renewable energy generation managed to exceed 25% of power supply for the first time across Australia’s main grids.   

While much has been made of the ‘trilemma’ facing the Australia electricity network, Ray Wills from Future Smart Strategies argues that rapid change of energy technology, business models and social changes is resulting in rapid and difficult-to-predict changes.

WA-based renewable energy developer Carnegie Clean Energy has announced the departure of its long-serving managing director Michael Ottaviano and reveled major updates on its projects, including the 10 MW Northam Solar Farm and its solar/battery microgrid projects.

NSW’s Charles Sturt University has begun its next major solar power installation project, which will see over 2.5 MW of rooftop solar deployed across its campuses. The installation adds to its existing landmark 1.77 MW array.

Despite lowering its 2018 sales and earning guidance, the German solar PV inverter manufacturer is moving forward with solutions, and is now looking to introduce a new three-phase string inverter to the Australian market. SMA says Australia has become one of its key PV markets.