The former head of Australia’s most polluting brown coal generator is proposing a 10-fold increase in the size of a solar PV plant he proposes fills in the market gap created by the closure of Port Augusta’s own brown coal-fired generation capacity.

A Deutsche Bank report has predicted “sharp declines” in US solar module and inverter prices that it says could drive payback periods down to less than five years and spark a “final ‘gold rush'” in the American residential, commercial and industrial markets, starting in 2017.

Just over a year after Australian cleantech company Dyesol claimed to have achieved efficiency levels of 10 per cent in its perovskite solar cells, US researchers claim to have topped that, with a breakthrough that could also work to fast-track commercialisation of the technology.

A new, AUD$100 million renewable energy investment fund that aims to buy up established solar farms around Australia has been launched by Melbourne-based Impact Investment Group, with the backing of some high profile names including respected economist Ross Garnaut and the Lieberman family.

A new loan facility that will help Australian businesses invest in solar, battery storage, energy efficient technologies and electric vehicles has been launched by Westpac Bank in conjunction with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

Battery storage could be just five years away from being an economic no-brainer for some Australian solar households, according to a new report which predicts grid-connected battery storage will be economically attractive for many homes from around 2020. RenewEconomy reports.

Brazil has become the latest nation to embrace floating solar power technology, with the announcement of a massive 350 MW project at the Balbina hydroelectric plant in the Amazon.

One out of every five Australian households are turning to solar energy for their electricity or hot water, new data has revealed.

Financial considerations are driving solar installations in Australia, according to a new survey by Ernst & Young, which found that 70% of people who had already installed PV systems did so for financial reasons.