Presented by Energy Matters team member Virginia, we take a look at some of the stories from Australia and around the world recently added to our renewable energy news section.
This week, Virginia reports on power supply threatened for 500,000+ NSW homes, SMA inverters to be used in Japan’s biggest solar farm, City Of Sydney endorses locally produced energy and electricity for just 5c a kilowatt hour.
In this episode:
– According to the Herald Sun, one in six New South Wales homes could be hit by blackouts after a decision by Fair Work Australia to allow workers to take action against Macquarie Generation, the state’s largest electricity supplier. Read more.
– SMA has been selected as the sole supplier of solar inverters for Japan’s largest solar power plant. The heart of any solar power system, the inverter converts the DC power generated by solar panels into AC electricity. Construction of the 70 megawatt project has already begun and is due to be completed by mid to late 2013. Read more.
– The City of Sydney has lodged a submission to the Australian Energy Regulator review of electricity network companies. With costly upgrades needed to network infrastructure, Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the smartest investment the city could make is in generating electricity close to where it is used. The City plans to boost the energy efficiency of its buildings and produce electricity locally with solar, wind and trigeneration technology. Read more.
– Residential mains electricity in Australia now costs up to 52 cents per kilowatt hour, among the highest cost for electricity in the world. However, a highly efficient 4kW solar power system can provide 70 to 80 percent of an average household’s electricity consumption and with quality solar components and savvy consumption habits, a system can generate clean electricity for just over 5 cents per kilowatt hour based on current prices. Read more.
