Road-Registered Solar Electric Cars To Be Built In Australia
Brisbane will be home to a design and manufacturing hub producing the world’s first commercial and road- registered fully solar powered electric cars. A new facility for the project at Macarthur Avenue, Eagle Farm was opened by Queensland’s Minister for Energy, Mark Bailey, yesterday. The solar-electric cars will be made by Team Arrow. You may […]
Volvo SuperTruck Features Solar Panels
Volvo Trucks North America has unveiled a SuperTruck demonstrator that has achieved a freight efficiency improvement of 88 percent – and solar power gets a look-in on the high-tech vehicle. Volvo began the SuperTruck project five years ago after the U.S. Department of Energy set a challenge to build a truck that improves freight efficiency […]
Amazon And Facebook’s Latest Renewable Energy Efforts
It wasn’t all that long ago Facebook and Amazon were heavily criticised for their carbon-intensive operations, but both companies have rapidly transformed from laggards to leaders. First, to Amazon. The company announced late last week the Amazon Wind Farm Texas project, which will be a 253-megawatt power station in Scurry County, Texas. The facility will […]
A More Generous Solar Feed In Tariff For Victoria?
Last year, the Victorian government made good on an election commitment to commence a process it said would help ensure the state’s solar households and businesses receive fair payment for the solar electricity they export to the mains grid. The Essential Services Commission (ESC) was tasked with the investigation, and while the exercise has run […]
World Energy Investment 2016
The inaugural annual report on global energy investments from the International Energy Agency reveals investments in renewables made up nearly a fifth of total energy spending last year. World Energy Investment 2016 states renewables were the largest source of power investment. Spending on renewable power capacity additions may have been flat between 2011 and 2015, […]
SEIA Launches Solar Panel Recycling Program
A new program has kicked off in the USA to help ensure millions of solar panels installed across the country don’t ultimately wind up in landfills. In partnership with major solar manufacturers and installer-developers, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is working to set up network of cost-effective recyclers to manage PV waste and end-of-life […]
Super-Hydrophobic Coating Developed At ANU
Scientists at the Australian National University have developed a super-hydrophobic coating that has the potential to enhance the self-cleaning attributes of solar panels. The waterproofing coating is made up of nanoparticle structures likened to two interwoven fishing nets and consists of two types of plastics – one quite rigid and another very flexible. The technology […]
Australia Reaches 5GW+ Of Small Scale Solar
The latest data from Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator (CER) shows Australia now has more than 2.58 million small scale solar power systems installed, representing 5GW+ of generating capacity. 7,599 small-scale systems were installed across the country in August, representing a total generation capacity of 33,898kW. In terms of numbers of systems, Queensland led the way […]
U.S Adds 2GW+ Of Solar PV In 2nd Quarter
The second quarter of 2016 has been another big one for the USA’s solar industry, with 2,051 megawatts of solar panels installed – a 43 percent increase over Q2 2015. Data from the latest GTM Research and SEIA U.S. Solar Market Insight report indicates the end of the period marked the twelfth consecutive quarter where […]
Solar panel pollen interaction and effect on efficiency
Spring is in the air – and with it, pollen. How much of an impact can pollen have on the electricity output of solar panels? A buildup of gunk and grime in the form of solar panel pollen can certainly decrease its efficiency. Professor Simon Haberle from the Australian National University (ANU) operates the airborne […]