The future looks bright for solar PV in Australia
15 July, 2013 by Daman Cole*Four stages can typically be identified in every economic cycle: growth, development, maturity and decline. Those who believe that the future of solar power in Australia is troubled are wrong, mistrusting a market which last year accounted for 4% of global PV installations and was ranked sixth in the world.
Solar panels put shine on farmer savings
12 July, 2013Westpac and Meridian Energy are giving farmers in New Zealand easier access to solar energy, potentially helping them save thousands each year on their power bills.
Collective rooftop solar PV project
11 July, 2013The City of Sydney's $4.3 million project with Solgen Energy installing Yingli Solar 250 W polycrystalline panels on 30 sites is claimed to be the largest collective building-mounted solar panel program in Australia. It will have a total peak electrical capacity of approximately 1.25 MW, reducing annual carbon pollution by up to 2100 tonnes.
Sunswift Solar racer built to be safe and practical
18 June, 2013 by Lauren DavisUNSW solar car racing team ‘Sunswift’ is working hard to build a solar car which is friendly not only to the environment but also to the driver.
Fellowships for 25 next-gen solar researchers
04 June, 2013Twenty-five lucky solar researchers will have the opportunity to pursue their own research investigations to help make solar technologies cheaper and more accessible to consumers with funding from the Australian Government.
Solar Inception SolaGRID Audible Alarm
07 May, 2013The SolaGRID Audible Alarm is a self-contained, lightweight safety device that ensures solar power users are immediately alerted if an earth fault affects an inverter.
$4 million boost to solar cell research
07 May, 2013A project to push the efficiency of nanoplasmonic solar cell technology has received a $4 million grant under the Science and Industry Endowment Fund (SIEF).
ABB to power one of Africa’s largest photovoltaic solar plants
03 May, 2013Power and automation technology group ABB has won an order worth around $25 million to supply electrical and control systems for a new 75 MW photovoltaic (PV) power plant in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The order was booked in the first quarter.
Trends and forecasts for organic photovoltaics (OPVs)
02 May, 2013 by Dr Harry Zervos, Senior Technology Analyst, IDTechExAs discussed in the IDTechEx Research report ‘Organic Photovoltaics (OPV) 2013-2023: Technologies, Markets, Players’, organic photovoltaics, although potentially a disruptive technology, do not currently offer very high efficiency levels or lifetime and these characteristics limit their market uptake. On the other hand, OPVs can offer versatility in form factor, improved indoor performance and low capital expenditure for large-scale manufacture. In this article, Dr Harry Zervos, Senior Technology Analyst, IDTechEx, summarises some of the details of the report.
Clean energy booster funding for vaccine manufacturer
02 May, 2013Veterinary vaccine manufacturer MSD Animal Health will use up to $335,660 of carbon price revenue to install a solar photovoltaic energy system at its manufacturing site in Bendigo East, cutting pollution and saving energy costs.
Hawaiian auto businesses say aloha to renewable energy
30 April, 2013Kyocera Solar has supplied Kyocera solar modules to ProVision Solar that will power a total of eight auto businesses on the Big Island of Hawaii, making it one of the greenest enterprises on the island.
ABB to acquire solar inverter company Power-One
24 April, 2013ABB, the global power and automation technology group, and Power-One, a provider of renewable energy and of energy-efficient power conversion and power management solutions, have agreed to a transaction in which ABB will acquire Power-One for $6.35 per share in cash or $1028 million equity value.
Imark SR and SRX MPPT Solar Regulators
18 April, 2013Imark Communications has released the SR and SRX family of MPPT Solar Regulators for remote off-grid solar power installations wherever it is necessary to operate DC equipment and the only source of power is solar.
Australia makes its first solar power million
08 April, 2013The number of Australian homes with solar power systems has passed the one million mark, according to figures from the Clean Energy Regulator that confirm the milestone was reached in March.
Super-thin solar cells in 2020
04 April, 2013Nanoscientists at the University of Oslo are currently developing the next generation of solar cells which will be 20 times thinner than current solar cells.
