Solar Power

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 →

The federal government will provide $24.2 million in funding and a $90 million loan for a project that will see daytime operations at two Pilbara iron ore mines powered entirely by solar power. Alinta Energy will construct a large solar farm at Fortescue Metals Group’s mining hub in the Chichester Ranges, three hours drive south … Continue reading Two Pilbara mines to be powered solely by solar →

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is providing $3 million in funding to Port Gregory Wind Farm (PGWF) to build a grid-connected wind, solar and lithium-ion battery project to power a remote mine in Western Australia. The project will consist of a hybrid 2.5 MW wind farm, 1 MW solar farm and a 2 MW/0.5 … Continue reading ARENA funds solar, wind and battery project to power mining operations →

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 →

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 →

Seqwater, the statutory water authority of the Queensland government, has worked with robotic researchers at QUT’s Institute for Future Environments to develop the Autonomous Motorised Monitoring Instrument, or SAMMI. Natural Resources Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said that the solar-powered, self-driving robot has the capacity to change the way Seqwater monitors it’s water quality. “Water quality … Continue reading Seqwater and QUT develop autonomous water monitoring robot →

Successful commissioning and operation of Australia-based Vast Solar’s 1 MW pilot project is delivering dispatchable renewable power to the grid and driving the company’s next move. The world-leading concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) company is now looking to raise $75m from strategic partners to build its business and help finance its first utility scale power … Continue reading Renewable energy technology developer seeks finance for commercial project →

RMIT University researchers have developed a nano-enhanced material that can capture 99 per cent of light and convert it to power chemical reactions, paving the way for a more sustainable chemical manufacturing industry. As well as reducing the environmental impact of chemical manufacturing, the innovation could one day be used to deliver technologies like better … Continue reading Researchers harness light to power chemical manufacturing →

Business energy retailer Flow Power has entered into a ten-year offtake agreement with renewable energy developer BayWa r.e. to purchase 48 megawatts (MW) from two of northern Victoria’s largest solar farms. The 112MW Karadoc solar farm and 106MW Yatpool solar farm, which are owned and developed by BayWa r.e, will provide 20MW and 28MW respectively … Continue reading Flow Power enters agreement with owner of northern Victoria’s largest solar farms →

Canadian Solar has acquired a 30MW solar farm in Mannum, South Australia, which will help to power Mid-Murray region agribusinesses. Following the acquisition, the farm will be constructed in two stages, the first 5 megawatt stage will commence construction in January with the second 25 megawatt stage to follow later in 2019. Once complete the … Continue reading Canadian Solar purchases Mannum solar farm in SA →

A Curtin University PhD project developed in collaboration with back-up power equipment, Magellan Power, has led to the development of a sky imaging product that can help mitigate the effects of passing clouds of solar power generation. PhD student Mojtaba Saleh worked with Magellan Power to develop the “Sky Eye Solar Smoother”, which uses real-time … Continue reading Research develops sky-imaging technology to bolster solar power →

Sustainability Victoria is thinking circular in outlining a new research project to understand end of life management approaches for Photovoltaic (PV) systems with the objective of assessing options to progress a national product stewardship program, its CEO Stan Krpan said today. “For the purposes of the assessment, the term PV systems includes solar panels and … Continue reading Where solar panels go to die →

Renewable energy is on track to supply more than a third of the  power in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) by 2020 thanks to a combination of large-scale renewable projects and Australia’s booming rooftop solar industry. New analysis also reveals that with higher emissions reduction targets,renewable energy  could account for up to 85% of the … Continue reading Renewables to have 33 per cent share of Australia’s electricity market by 2020 →

The Smart Energy Council is today calling on the Victorian Government to only maintain its support of the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) if the Federal Government commits to a stronger national emissions target. The renewables sector is booming in Victoria, with a recent large-scale renewable  energy auction attracting 3,500 MW of new wind and solar … Continue reading Smart Energy Council wants government support →

The Pilbara town of Onslow is set to become the home of Australia’s largest energy microgrid with the awarding of major renewables-focused infrastructure contracts. Horizon Power recently received State Government approval to progress the next phase of its distributed energy resources (DER) project in Onslow which will provide the town with a high level of … Continue reading Australia’s largest renewable energy microgrid powers ahead →

Rooftop solar is continuing to boom in Australia with the 2018 installation rate soaring above 2017’s record rate. Thanks to improved technology and larger rooftop installs, the total kilowatt capacity of rooftop solar is 56% above last year’s, and the number of systems installed has increased 32 per cent on the same period last year. … Continue reading Solar citizens lead the energy revolution →

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) today announced an Australian-first trial of drinking water systems that produce clean drinking water drawn directly from the air using solar power. On behalf of the Australian Government, ARENA will provide $420,000 in funding to US-based Zero Mass Water to deploy 150 of its solar-powered SOURCE drinking water systems … Continue reading How to get clean drinking water using solar power →

Resources NL is pleased to announce the execution of a binding Heads of Agreement (HOA) with Sunrise Energy Group for the supply and construction of a Mega Watt Alternating Current (MWAC) solar farm to be built next to the company’s high-grade, zircon-rich Boonanarring mineral sands project located 80km north of Perth, which is currently under … Continue reading HOA agreement signed between Resources NL and Sunrise Energy →

Pop-up mobile solar PV could soon replace diesel generators as temporary power supply for military operations, disaster relief efforts and music festivals, thanks to an Australian-made innovation. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $289,725 in funding for Canberra-based ECLIPS Engineering to design, manufacture and test its rapidly redeployable Container Roll Out Solar System … Continue reading Portable solar system could replace generators →