Solar Assisted Wave Gliders Clock Up 1 Million Nautical Miles
Liquid Robotics recently announced its fleets of solar assisted Wave Gliders have reached 1 million nautical miles at sea. That’s 1,852,000 kilometres to us metric-talkin’ landlubbers. Unmanned ocean vessels are increasingly being used to measure and monitor conditions and on reconnaissance missions; collecting and communicating environmental, security, weather and seismic data. The Wave Glider is […]
Tasmania’s Electricity Crisis Drags On
Tasmania’s Minister For Energy says there have been no material inflows into Hydro Tasmania’s catchments over the past week and as of yesterday, water levels were at a record low of 14.8 per cent. An as yet unrepaired fault in the Basslink interconnector between Tasmania and Victoria is increasingly making its presence felt. While wind […]
Free Solar Power Systems For MASH2
Free solar power systems have been supplied by Energy Matters’ parent company, SunEdison Australia, as part of the MASH2 solar community bulk buy initiative in Central Victoria. The Hub Foundation’s MASH2 program offered high quality solar panel systems provided by SunEdison Australia via a bulk purchasing model that saw participants receiving substantial discounts. Under arrangements […]
Swaziland’s First Solar Power Station
It might not be a large solar PV plant by many measures, but it’s a big moment for the people of Swaziland – and more power to them. On Wednesday, the first stage of a grid-connected photovoltaic power generation facility situated at Buckswood House will be switched on. According to the Swazi Observer, the 100 […]
WA’s Busselton Jetty Train To Go Solar-Electric
The historic petrol-powered Busselton Jetty Train will be retired later this year and replaced with a solar-powered, electric version. The current 50-seat train has been taking visitors on a 1.7 kilometre journey over Geographe Bay since the 1970’s. It’s a major drawcard to the town that attracts 400,000 visitors from around the world every year […]
Off Grid Solar + Storage Pilot Project In Western Australia
Five small off-grid solar power stations with energy storage will replace mains-grid supply in a pilot project in Western Australia. Devastating bushfires late last year in the Esperance region destroyed hundreds of power poles and hundreds of kilometres of powerlines. While many customers were reconnected within ten days, five properties have chosen off-grid solar power […]
USA To Install Tens Of Millions Of Solar Panels This Year
A predicted 16 gigawatts of solar will be installed in the U.S. in 2016 – representing year-over-year growth of a staggering 119%. That’s a lot of solar panels – equivalent to around 61,538,461 based on a 260 watt module. The 16GW prediction has been made by GTM Research in the latest U.S. Solar Market Insight […]
AI + Solar Could Help Connect Millions
Artificial Intelligence will play an important role in determining where Facebook’s Aquila solar-powered planes will beam down internet connectivity. In November last year, Facebook unveiled Aquila, a solar powered drone with the wingspan of a Boeing 737. The craft will cruise at an altitude of around 27,400 metres during the day while the solar cells […]
Quantum Dot Solar Windows
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the USA are attempting to turn windows into transparent solar panels through the use of quantum dots. Quantum dots are semiconductors with the ability to tightly confine electrons or holes in all three spatial dimensions and can be finely tuned. They are incredibly small, just around one-billionth of […]
Faster Grid Connections For Victorian Solar Households
Changes to legislation in Victoria should mean faster connection times for owners of new solar power systems. The amendments will require electricity distributors to follow shorter timeframes when receiving requests to connect solar power systems to the mains grid. Yesterday, Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio introduced the National Electricity (Victoria) Further Amendment Bill […]