About 1 million New South Wales households will be able to apply for an upfront payment of almost AUD 3,000 ($2,153) to put towards a solar system or energy-saving upgrades to home appliances as part of a new state government program designed to reduce energy bills as power prices soar.

With architects and construction companies across the world showing an increasing interest in building-integrated PV, one Australian company has outlined plans to clad an eight-storey building being constructed in West Melbourne with a “solar skin” that will generate almost all of the building’s base power.

5B has completed a AUD 30 million ($21.8 million) Series B funding round with its existing shareholders to help fund the development of its flagship modular Maverick solar array, while also accelerating the progress of the company’s pipeline of multi-megawatt projects.

Australian redox-flow battery specialist Redflow has upped the ante on its plans to expand into the US market, announcing that it has completed testing to pave the way for its battery energy storage system to be used in conjunction with hybrid inverters manufactured by US solar engineering company Sol-Ark.

Transgrid, the transmission network owner in the Australian state of New South Wales, has started building its section of the AUD 2.3 billion ($1.64 billion) Project EnergyConnect. The high-voltage electricity transmission interconnector will link power grids across three states, unlocking gigawatts of planned renewables.

Frontier Energy has identified its preferred electrolysis technology as it advances plans to produce green hydrogen powered by the proposed 500 MW Bristol Springs Solar project in Western Australia.

Australia’s new prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has promised to make the nation a “renewable energy superpower,” following the Labor Party’s federal election victory on the weekend.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued a call for homeowners to check their residential energy storage systems, amid a national recall of that batteries due to concerns about overheating.

Origin Energy has secured planning approval for a 700 MW/2,800 MWh grid-connected battery to be developed at the site of its coal-fired Eraring power station in the Australian state of New South Wales.

The International Energy Agency expects solar, wind power, and other renewable energy technologies to achieve triple-digit global growth this year, with new PV additions set to reach almost 200 GW.