Australia

Conceived by a group of scientists in Australia, the novel online tool can be modified for different regulatory environments. The program’s user interface asks for seven input files with a resolution of 30 minutes.

Scientists in Australia claim to have achieved the highest efficiency ever reported to date for a perovskite-CIGS tandem solar cell built on a flexible steel substrate. In the proposed cell configuration, steel can act as both a substrate and an electrode.

Australian PV manufacturer Tindo Solar is expected to be among the first applicants for a grant from the federal government’s AUD 1 billion ($648.7 million) Solar Sunshot program, as it looks to scale up its production capacity to compete in a growing domestic market dominated by imports.

Solar panel manufacturing in Australia has reached a new zenith with a commitment by two industry leaders to explore the possibilities of establishing a commercial-scale advanced solar panel manufacturing facility in the heart of New South Wales coal country.

Trina Solar continues to cement its transition from PV panel manufacturer to a single supplier for solar projects, having delivered both PV modules and a tracking system for New Zealand’s largest operational solar farm.

In a new weekly update for pv magazine, Solcast, a DNV company, reports that Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia, and New South Wales were over-performing solar regions in March. This overperformance in the southeast and southwest came despite most of the Australian continent seeing below-average irradiance, due to thicker-than-usual clouds over the sparsely-populated interior and tropics.

A new report has called for large PV waste and recycling facilities to be established in major Australian cities as a matter of priority with solar waste predicted to reach 100,000 tonnes annually, equivalent to 1.2 GW per year, by the end of the decade.

Australian researchers have calculated the levelised cost of green hydrogen under different installed capex scenarios for 2030. They also looked into the different possible sizing of PEM electrolyzers.

The Australian government will allocate AUD 1 billion ($652.8 million) to help build a domestic solar panel manufacturing industry to underpin the nation’s future as a renewable energy superpower.

The Australian government has granted environmental approval for UK developer Lightsource bp to proceed with its plans to build Australia’s largest solar farm and battery energy storage system on any of the country’s main electricity grids.