Solar Energy

As battery storage technology becomes more affordable, more companies are turning to renewable energy as a means of cutting down on energy costs. PACE talks to Total Construction’s James Bolton and Rob Blythman about what needs to be considered when transitioning to solar power. With high power costs looking likely to remain a norm, Australian … Continue reading Powering the factories of the future →

APA Group’s new Badgingarra Solar Farm in Hill River has now officially opened 200 kilometres north of Perth. The $40 million solar farm consists of almost 62,000 solar panels, installed across 40 hectares of land, and has a capacity of 19.25 megawatts. This is APA’s fourth facility in its renewables precinct, which is co-located with … Continue reading Badgingarra Solar Farm opens in Western Australia →

Two Western Australian mines are switching to wind, solar and battery power as a way of improving reliability with lower emissions at a lower cost. Gold Fields’ Agnew gold mine is already constructing a wind, solar, battery and gas hybrid facility at their site 1,000 kilometres north east of Perth, which has received $13.5 million … Continue reading Western Australian mines power forward with hybrid energy projects →

A new nanomaterial made from phosphorus, known as phosphorene, is shaping up as a key ingredient for more sustainable and efficient next-generation perovskite solar cells (PSCs). PSCs are one of the fastest developing new solar technologies and can achieve efficiencies comparable to more commonly used commercially available silicon solar cells. For the first time, an … Continue reading Flinders University researchers exploring potentials of phosphorene in solar technologies →

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has announced its third equity investment in a large-scale renewable energy development, with a $51 million stake in Victoria’s 200MW (AC) Kiamal Solar Farm. The investment extends the CEFC’s push into equity following earlier investments in Queensland’s Ross River Solar Farm and Tasmania’s Granville Harbour Wind Farm. The Kiamal … Continue reading CEFC announces $51 million equity investment in Kiamal Solar Farm →

Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) have, for the first time, demonstrated the maximum potential of ultra-thin 2D materials to generate electricity using sunlight. According to the research paper, published in the journal Advanced Materials, 2D materials could one day revolutionise technology like solar cells, mobile phones and sensing devices. While scientists have been … Continue reading ANU scientists demonstrate electricity-generating potential of ultra-thin 2D materials →

The Victorian government has appointed Stan Krpan as the inaugural chief executive officer of Solar Victoria. Krpan will lead the implementation of the Labor government’s Solar Homes package, which is to help households across Victoria cut their energy costs while boosting supply to the grid. Solar Homes aims to cut Victoria’s carbon emissions by almost … Continue reading Andrews government appoints first CEO of Solar Victoria →

Despite Australia’s increasing focus on renewable energy and the rising number of solar farms being built in cyclone-prone areas, Australia lacks local resilience testing standards for solar panels, according to a new report from FM Global. Sun Metals Corporation (SMC) and James Cook University’s Cyclone Testing Station, working with FM Global, has completed wind-tunnel and … Continue reading Australia needs better resilience testing standards for solar panels, report says →

Western Australia’s principal water supplier, Water Corporation, will install solar rooftop systems on its buildings across the state and build a renewable energy generator to reduce its energy footprint. Water Corporation pumps water and wastewater across 2.6 million square kilometres, requiring significant energy consumption. In an effort to become more energy efficient, it will install … Continue reading WA’s Water Corporation to roll out solar panels →

Two local renewable energy companies have been awarded the lion’s share of Western Power’s $8.8 million Stand-alone Power System (SPS) contracts. Perth-based companies, Hybrid Systems and BayWA r.e. Solar Systems will be responsible for supplying the majority of the SPS units for Round 1 of the program. The companies will utilise local engineering and construction … Continue reading Major contracts signed for standalone power system rollout in WA →

Scientists at the Australian National University (ANU) have made new breakthroughs that could help further revolutionise solar technology and make it more efficient and more accessible. The researchers have been concentrating on the solar cell’s skin layer, which is 1,000 times thinner than a human hair, and is used to conduct electricity and protect the … Continue reading ANU research at the forefront of solar technology →

Victorians will be able to save up to $400 a year on their power bills with discounted solar hot water systems for 60,000 households in the next ten years, under the new Solar Homes program. Premier Daniel Andrews met workers building solar hot water systems at Rinnai Australia’s manufacturing facility on the 20th of August … Continue reading Victorian government provides thousands discounts on solar hot water systems →

Swedish solar company Azelio has launched a demonstrator of its technology for solar energy storage. The technology is revolutionising in its ability to generate clean electricity on demand around-the clock in a distributed way. It has modularity benefits and is more cost efficient than competing technologies, including fossil based. Azelio’s unique solution is based on … Continue reading Game-changing technology for low-cost solar energy storage →

Cimic Group company UGL has been awarded contracts by Equis Energy to build and maintain the Tailem Bend 127MW Solar Farm in South Australia. The project will generate revenue to UGL of approximately $170 million and is due to commence in early 2018, with power generation to the grid expected in 2019. CIMIC Group Chief … Continue reading Cimic’s UGL awarded $170m contract →

Fluence, an energy storage company owned by Siemens and The AES Corporation, announced its new technology platform, called SunFlex Energy Storage, that is said to both improve and expand the capabilities of photovoltaic solar generation, already the fastest growing resource in the power sector. The company’s newest energy storage technology platform enables solar facilities to sell up … Continue reading New technology increases solar generation by 50 percent →

Brisbane-based First Solar has announced it has been awarded a 241 megawatt (MW)DC module supply contract by RCR Tomlinson as engineering, procurement and construction contractor for Edify Energy’s Daydream (180.7MWDc) and Hayman (60.2MWDC) solar projects in Queensland, Australia. This contract takes First Solar’s delivery pipeline to over 500MW in the next 12 months. Located across … Continue reading First Solar wins contract for Edify Energy’s Daydream project →

Utilising SolarReserve’s proprietary solar thermal energy storage technology, the Likana Soalr Energy Project  in the Antofagasta region of Chile, will be comprised of three 130 megawatt (MW) solar thermal towers, each with 13 hours of full load energy storage. With 5.1 gigawatt-hours of total energy storage capacity, the facility will deliver 390 megawatts of continuous … Continue reading Non-intermittent, baseload 24-hour a day solar →

Champions of fossil-fuel generation have long complained that jobs losses have been one of the biggest detriments to the decommissioning of coal-fired power plants. And renewable energy sources do nothing to help replace those jobs. Not so, according to a panel of experts at the recent Australian Energy Storage Conference and Exhibition held at the … Continue reading Renewable jobs market underplayed →

In our ongoing series talking to industry leaders, we have a chat with Solgen Energy Group executive general manager David Naismith about renewable energy, the solar industry and the challenges borne out of the growing solar power storage sector.

The international trade association for suppliers of broadcast and media technology (IABM) has given its International Award for Excellence in Sustainability to Broadcast Australia for installing a solar battery solution designed and delivered by Photon Energy.