Australia’s electricity retailers have won a major victory in the battle over access to the nation’s lucrative solar and battery storage market, after the Australian Energy Regulator effectively ruled networks […]
Category: Solar Choice News
Solar Choice’s news service about local, national and global developments about solar photovoltaics and related technology.
NSW Minister pushing for households to share energy with other households
New South Wales parliamentary secretary Adam Marshall wants to slash the development fees for large-scale renewable energy projects in the state. The Young National Party MLA told the North Coast […]
Blockchain network disruption soon to arrive – with Australian company at forefront
An Australian start-up has been named as a global leader in the development of “blockchain” technology in a report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The BNEF report named Perth-based company […]
Battery storage take-up in Australia to snowball forward
A NSW-based community solar and battery storage bulk buy program has been so successful that the promoters believe the battery storage sector may be in the early stages of mass-market […]
Climate conspiracy gets hold of Senate as Coalition attacks coal opponents
Australia’s federal energy minister Josh Frydenberg has attacked “latte-sipping” opponents of coal mining in a day at Parliament that also featured vigorous debate questioning climate science in the Senate. Asked […]
Integrated solar roof tiles cheaper to install than regular roof, says Musk
Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk has suggested his newly launched integrated solar roof tiles could actually cost less to install than a regular roof – making the renewable electricity […]
IEA questions Australia’s commitment to coal
The International Energy Agency has questioned Australia’s commitment to extract thermal coal from huge new reserves in Queensland, in the face of what describes as “increasingly questionable” economics. In its […]
Reports underline how far behind the climate eight-ball Australia remains
Two new new global reports have underlined just how far behind the climate eight-ball Australia remains, just days after the Turnbull government said it would ratify the Paris Agreement. The […]
520kW solar array in Sydney CBD now open for public investment
The Sydney company behind a 520kW PV array in the city’s CBD opened the project for public investment on Tuesday. Sydney Renewable Power Company (SRPC), an unlisted public company, which […]
The network value of solar isn’t that valuable says Victoria regulator
In the second phase of a report commissioned by the state Labor government, Victoria’s pricing regulator has concluded that the value to the network of rooftop solar is not as […]
Commercial Solar PV Price Index: November 2016
The average price of a commercial solar PV system dropped very slightly between October and November 2016 (from about $1.26 per watt to about $1.25/W) according to figures from the […]
How Trump could be great for battery storage
Deutsche Bank has described the global battery market as being at an inflection point, with global consumption expected to treble from 70Gwh in 2015 to 210GWh by 2018, and then […]
New report exposes myth around Australia’s “cheap energy”
Australia’s wholesale electricity prices have hardly budged in the last few decades, thanks largely to the impact of renewable energy, a new report has shown. The report, the latest of […]
Residential Solar PV Price Index – November 2016
Average solar PV system prices for Australia’s capital cities changed little between October and November of 2016, according to data from Solar Choice’s installer network database. Currently, the average price […]
Tesla Motors to begin charging drivers for access to Superchargers
US EV maker Tesla has revealed changes to the company’s Supercharger network, which, starting next year, will cost new Tesla EV drivers a “small fee” to use, having been – […]
What a Trump presidency means for the global energy market
What does a Trump presidency mean for the global energy market? The reality is that we simply don’t know. Nevertheless, it doesn’t look good. And on any conventional assessment, it […]
Melbourne based company wins Australian Tech Competition
A Melbourne-based company has won top honours at this year’s Australian Technology Competition, taking out Company of the Year for its Energy Reclaim Kit technology that re-uses air-conditioning waste-water to […]
Battery storage could seriously disrupt fossil fuel industry: Report
A new report from global credit ratings agency Fitch Ratings has warned that battery storage is showing serious potential to “displace current technology far more rapidly than anticipated.” The report, […]
NSW Government announces major expansion into renewable energy
The New South Wales Coalition government has broken ranks with its federal counterpart and announced a major expansion into large and small-scale renewable energy, as well as electric vehicles and […]
The 1.5GW Hazelwood brown coal generator in Victoria to close in March 2017
The dirtiest power station in Australia, the 1.5GW Hazelwood brown coal generator in Victoria is to close in five months after its owners finally bowed to the inevitable. Staff at […]
Oz Minerals to use solar power to run a $1 billion copper mine in South Australia
Australian copper miner Oz Minerals is looking to solar power to help run a $1 billion copper mine it plans to build in South Australia, in what would be the biggest […]
Is Tesla’s Powerwall 2 the cheapest lithium battery for homes?
Tesla is selling second generation lithium-ion batteries at retail prices that are cheaper than the average manufacturing cost at most companies, setting a pace for the industry that is beating […]
Victorian Government backs multiple time-of-use tariffs for rooftop solar
Victoria’s state government has backed the introduction of multiple time-of-use tariffs for rooftop solar exports to the grid to better reflect the value of the state’s distributed solar generation. State […]
Tesla founder plans to lead global push to 100 percent renewable energy
On Friday, in Los Angeles, Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk unveiled the latest elements of his plan to lead a global push to 100 per cent renewable energy: a […]
Tesla’s Powerwall 2.0: Double the capacity at the same price
Not to be outdone, Tesla has leaped ahead of its competitors with the launch of the next generation of its home battery bank. At 13.5 kilowatt-hours (kWh), the Tesla Powerwall […]
Proposed tariff would keep solar households connected to the grid
Australia’s main network lobby hopes to encourage more than one million households with solar and storage to stay connected to the main networks, rather than quit the grid, with the […]
US grid-scale energy storage developer to setup base in Australia
A US grid-scale energy storage developer is looking to set up a collaborative research base in Australia, and possibly a manufacturing hub, as it begins to test its liquid metal […]
Adelaide City Council to install 40 electric charging stations by end of 2017
Adelaide City Council has launched a new sustainability initiative that will see at least 40 electric vehicle charging stations installed throughout the city, including 10 charging points in the Adelaide […]
Commercial Solar PV Price Index: October 2016
Average commercial solar system prices for all sizes that we track (10kW, 30kW, 50kW and 100kW) held stable at the $1.28/W low seen in September, according to data from Solar Choice’s […]
Half a million solar panels installed every day in 2015: IEA
An average of half a million solar panels a day were installed globally in 2015 and more than four wind turbines every hour, as renewables overtook coal for the first time and […]
US solar prices set for sharp decline
Sharp declines in US solar module and inverter prices could spark a “final ‘gold rush’” in America’s PV markets, a Deutsche Bank report has predicted. The US solar market report, […]
