Australia

Australia’s newest planned renewable energy zone has been “swamped” by investors, with the New South Wales government revealing that 34 GW of new solar, wind and energy storage projects have already been proposed.

Photon Energy reported raised revenue from sales of electricity in the second quarter of the year, compared with 12 months earlier, but said grid hold-ups at 14.6 MW of solar projects Down Under had affected performance.

The world’s biggest solar PV and storage project is set to get even larger with the Singapore-based Sun Cable announcing it plans to increase the renewable energy generation and storage capacity of the $26 billion Australia-ASEAN Power Link being developed in northern Australia.

Australia has the sun, the wind and the space to become one of the world’s green hydrogen export superpowers in coming decades. However, the Sunburnt Country does have a dearth of one ingredient in the green hydrogen equation – freshwater. Thankfully, researchers from Monash University and a group of national water utilities are joining forces to find a way to use wastewater for the process of electrolysis.

The comparison of two solar cladded roofs in Sydney, Australia, one bare beneath its panels and the other adorned with native grasses and plants, has found the panels on the green roof were, on average, 3.63% more efficient, producing an average daily output 13% greater than the conventional roof. The improvements are believed to stem from the lower temperatures on the green roof, thanks to its plants – which also provided a plethora of additional benefits.

Carbon never goes away, says Associate Professor Tianyi Ma, but if industrial carbon dioxide emissions can be cleanly, renewable catalyzed into chemicals and fuels that we need, we can reduce the overall GHG burden on the earth’s atmosphere.

Australian National University researchers claim to have set a world record for bifacial solar cell efficiency that they say could boost the energy output of solar farms by 30%.

Australian researchers have tested a novel lithium salt for high-voltage lithium batteries in electric vehicles and grid-scale storage systems. They claim the salt is less hazardous than conventional battery materials.

The operators of Australia’s largest solar farm have turned to a software-based bidding solution as they seek to optimize dispatch and manage the facility’s market trading and power purchase commitments amid increasing market volatility.

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation is pushing the limits of flexible solar PV cells by partnering with Australian startup Space Machines Company to test the technology in space.