Heatwave Blackout Threat Boosts Solar Battery Interest
The threat of heatwave related blackouts in Australia is another reason households are contemplating increased energy independence through the installation of solar and battery systems. Recent heatwave conditions in South Australia have seen wholesale electricity prices soar past $14,000 per megawatt hour at times – that’s $14 per kilowatt hour. Demand was such on Wednesday […]
WA Greens Spruik Solar Battery Grants Scheme
A Greens plan to support battery storage in Western Australia could benefit 120,000 WA households and thousands of businesses within five years. The proposed scheme would consist of a 50 per cent tax rebate of up to $5000 to install battery storage. Households on less than $80,000 year could also claim $5000 per household; declining […]
UPS Investing Big Bucks In Solar Energy
International logistics and freight giant UPS has announced it is investing USD $18 million in 10 megawatts of solar panels for some of its facilities in the USA. More than 26,000 solar modules in total will be installed on at least eight of its facilities, with the solar electricity generated to provide approximately 50% of […]
Pee Power – High Efficiency Urea Solar Batteries
Stanford University engineers have utilised urea, a compound that can be derived from animal urine, to produce a super-efficient solar battery that could provide a low-cost energy storage solution. Professor Hongjie Dai, who developed the device alongside colleague Michael Angell, incorporated urea into the system’s electrolyte as it is one of the most widely used […]
Solar Jobs In The USA Grew 25% In 2016
One out of every 50 new jobs created in the USA last year was in the solar energy industry according to The Solar Foundation’s just-published National Solar Jobs Census 2016 report. The solar workforce grew by 25 percent over 2015 to reach 260,077, the largest annual growth percentage since the first Census was released in […]
Biomimetic Trees To Harvest Wind Power?
A group of Iowa State University scientists have developed a biomimetic tree that could – emphasise “could” – harness wind power to generate electricity for charging small household appliances. The device produces energy when artificial leaves attached to a metallic trellis flutter and sway in the wind. Piezoelectric strips inside the leaf stalks generate an […]
Enphase Awarded Best Inverter 2017 Seals of Approval
Enphase Energy, Inc. has been awarded EuPD Research’s seals of approval for “Best Inverter 2017” in the Netherlands, France and the UK. “These respected industry seals of approval confirm Enphase’s commitment to quality, product innovation and technological leadership that help to create trustworthy products such as our inverters, and innovative new products, including our AC […]
Why Clean Coal Doesn’t Stack Up For Australia
The business and environmental case for so-called clean coal in Australia simply doesn’t stack up says the Climate Institute. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s announcement last week that the Coalition would pursue cleaner coal as part of a “technology-agnostic” approach to energy has met with significant skepticism and criticism. The Climate Institute has since put […]
NT Announces “Bigger, Better” Home Improvement Scheme
Home owners in Darwin and throughout the Northern Territory thinking about going solar now have an added incentive – the re-launched Home Improvement Scheme. The previous scheme offered vouchers of up to $2,000 to go towards home improvements, such as the purchase of solar power systems and battery storage. The new scheme offers double that […]
Solar PV And Electric Vehicles Could Topple Fossil Fuel – Soon
A new report warns fossil fuels may lose 10 per cent of market share to solar panels and electric vehicles within just a decade; enough to cripple energy incumbents. The report, published by Imperial College Of London’s Grantham Institute was authored by Luke Sussams and James Leaton of Carbon Tracker. It argues that business-as-usual (BAU) […]
