Oceania

The biggest battery yet connected to the grid in Queensland has commenced full commercial operations with developer Vena Energy announcing it has flicked the switch on the 100 MW/150 MWh Wandoan South battery energy storage system in the state’s south-west.

Combining satellite images of Australian rooftops with those of real-time cloud cover to create accurate forecasts of distributed solar output for suburbs and perhaps even whole regions and states is the focus of a new Australian startup, Solstice AI.

An international group of researchers has developed a cubical luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) PV device that can be assembled in mosaic configurations for applications in urban environments. The best-performing device achieved a power conversion efficiency of 11.6%.

France’s Neoen has started exports to the grid and is now rapidly advancing toward full production at the massive 400 MW solar farm it has developed in Queensland, Australia.

Australian researchers have developed a way to use rooftop PV to run air conditioners to pre-cool residential and commercial buildings. They have identified several factors that could help reduce a building’s energy costs.

Gasunie will establish a total storage capacity of approximately 26 million kilograms of hydrogen, with the first storage facility to be operational by 2026. Porsche Engineering has revealed its findings on the potential of hydrogen combustion engines, while hydrogen plans advanced in Australia and Portugal.

Australia’s Tindo Solar has unveiled a new solar panel based on M10 wafers for residential and business rooftop systems. The new addition to the company’s Karra range has a rated power of 410 W at 20.6% module efficiency and 23.1% cell efficiency.

Australia’s Magnis Energy Technologies has launched commercial production of full-sized cells at its US factory, with plans to increase production to 38 GWh of battery cell capacity per year by the end of the decade.

Companies are starting to offer new products and services in response to booming demand for off-grid solutions in Australia.

France’s Total Eren continues to advance its green hydrogen ambitions in Australia, teaming with the Northern Territory government to develop a massive renewable hydrogen production facility powered by more than 2 GW of PV.