Australia

The Italian power utility and the Dutch investment firm have agreed to acquire the first 137.5 MW of a 275 MW PV project under development in Australia. The second 137.5 MW project’s unit will be bought by the two companies later this year.

The Australia residential storage market is booming on the back of a combination of regulatory changes and market dynamics. However, with upwards of 30,000 systems set to be plugged in this year, the influence of early adopters deploying solar+storage to new installations remains a dominant driving force in the current market.

Researchers at the Australian National University (ANU) have achieved 26.4% efficiency using a stacked configuration of silicon and perovskite solar cells. The perovskite cell is semi-transparent and, according to ANU, could bring down the cost of generating solar power.

Two innovative new technologies with potential applications in solar were unveiled this week. Research teams across the world are looking at new way to boost solar’s stability by integrating with storage. Scientists in Australia and in China demonstrate their innovative steps toward achieving this.

The world’s biggest solar and battery storage plant – and Australia’s biggest solar farm – could begin construction this year, after the project was formally launched in Adelaide on Thursday.

Contracts have been inked for the Albuquerque-headquartered manufacturer of solar tracking systems to supply Neoen Australia’s three recently announced solar power plants with a combined 130 MW capacity.

First Solar closes another Australian project, to supply the Manildra Solar Farm project. The project reached financial close today, with RCR O’Donnell Griffin named as EPC. Construction is set to commence within three months.

Australia’s only solar panel manufacturer, Adelaide-based company Tindo Solar, has been bought by a local insulation company turned solar installer, Cool or Cosy, as part of a plans to create the largest solar retailer in Australia.

Sydney-based solar data start-up Solar Analytics has been awarded $2.1 million in grant funding from the federal government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency, to fast-track its rooftop PV monitoring technology.

It took a couple of tweets, and at least one one-hour long phone call, but it seems pretty clear that Tesla founder, CEO and billionaire Elon Musk has helped turn the debate around energy policy in Australia on its head.