A US startup that promised to revolutionise the solar tracking industry with a robot-controlled sun-tracking system has apparently shuttered its operations. According to Greentech Media. QBotix CEO Mike Miskovsky confirmed that […]
Category: Solar Choice News
Solar Choice’s news service about local, national and global developments about solar photovoltaics and related technology.
Could Aussie homes find it more economical to go off-grid? New analysis suggests ‘yes’
In the emerging new energy landscape, the idea that a large number of households could quit the grid altogether, using rooftop solar and battery storage, is still considered an unlikely […]
Aquion’s saltwater batteries compete with lead acid & lithium ion on cost, performance
Aquion Energy is the first company in the world to commercialise a modern saltwater battery for residential, commercial and industrial applications. Aqueon’s aqueous hybrid ion (AHI) technology is one of […]
Tesla fast-tracks Powerwall for Aussie market – first delivieries in late 2015
The arrival of Tesla’s Powerwall battery storage unit in Australia over the next few months will herald the biggest challenge to Australia’s electricity industry for decades. Tesla announced last Thursday […]
Aus energy storage industry will be booming by 2025: Energeia report
Australian households could be installing battery storage systems at a rate of 55,000 a year within just 10 years, a new report has found. The report, Sound and Fury – […]
Why a telco chose Imergy’s flow batteries: Q&A with CoverTel
The number of battery energy storage solution providers in Australia is growing, and as it does so does the range of battery technology options available to homes, businesses and industry. […]
Labor’s 50% renewables target would require $80b in investment: UBS
Federal Labor’s proposed 50 per cent renewable energy target for Australia by 2030 would require around $80 billion in investment, much of which would need to be spent anyway, a […]
Mass adoption of battery storage only 5 years away, predicts UBS
A new report has predicted that the point of “mass adoption” of household battery storage could arrive in Australia as soon as 2020, at which time the payback period for […]
Solar installation numbers for August lowest since 2010: Sunwiz
Australia’s rooftop solar market has charted the worst August in five years, down 10 per cent on the same period a year ago, according to leading research house SunWiz. New […]
QLD government aims to turn Sunshine State into Solar State
Queensland’s state Labor government says it has increased the capacity of its large scale solar auction to 60MW from 40MW as it seeks to accelerate the transition from the “sunshine […]
Australia will have 50GW of solar by 2040 – most of it ‘behind the meter’
Australia will have more than 50GW of installed solar capacity by 2040, according to a new forecast by Bloomberg New Energy Finance, and more than half of this capacity will […]
Australia one of the most attractive battery storage markets in the world: Kokam CEO
Australia is one of the most attractive markets in the world for battery storage, according to one of the world’s leading battery manufacturers – and not just at the household […]
QLD’s distributed rooftop solar ranks in top 10 largest generators in Aus
A new graph has shown that rooftop solar from individual states now ranks among the top generators in Australia. The graph, created by former Energex executive Mike Swanston in response […]
Rooftop solar reduces midday demand by up to 3GW: RMIT study
A new study from researchers from the Melbourne Energy Institute and RMIT in Victoria has highlighted the major role solar PV has played in reducing electricity demand in the last […]
Diamond Energy customers opening their doors for Sustainable House Day 2015
This coming Sunday 13th September is Sustainable House Day. Over 200 leading environmentally friendly homes will open their doors to the public this weekend and welcome thousands of visitors looking […]
Vic Labor to introduce legislation to prevent retailer discrimination against solar homes
Victoria’s Labor government has announced new legislation that will prevent electricity retailers from refusing discounts to households with rooftop solar arrays. Victoria energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio announced the move on […]
SE Queensland network hits 1GW solar – a system on 3 in 10 homes
Nearly three out of every 10 households in south-east Queensland have invested in rooftop solar, sending the total amount of PV installed on the electricity network operated by Energex past […]
Developing countries set the example for ‘energy democracy’
The former chief executive of America’s biggest electricity utility, Duke Energy, says it take distributed energy technologies like solar and storage to bring energy democracy to the world’s developing countries […]
QLD government to give boost to rooftop & large-scale solar
The Queensland Labor government has pledged to help the Sunshine State live up to its name, by boosting development of large-scale solar projects and encouraging the uptake of rooftop solar. […]
Redflow to offer small-scale flow battery in Australia from 2016
ASX-listed battery technology developer Reflow says it will deliver a plug and play version of its unique zinc bromide flow battery for households and small businesses by early 2016. The […]
On Wind Load Reduction: Solar Arrays in the Field and Building Roofs
Solar Choice has recently been in contact with Leighton Cochran, PhD of Brisbane-based MEL Consultants. Dr Cochran has conducted extensive research into wind loading for all types of solar technologies […]
2015-16 NSW benchmark solar panel feed-in tariff rates to drop further: IPART draft report
NSW’s Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has released a draft of its proposed solar feed-in tariff benchmark range for 2015-16. At 4.4-5.6c/kWh, the rates (which are unlikely to change […]
Solar will meet 100% of WA daytime electricity demand within next decade, says state’s energy minister
Western Australia’s treasurer and energy minister, Mike Nahan, has predicted that solar PV will meet the daytime electricity needs of the state within the next decade, in a speech at […]
ACT’s largest rooftop PV project reaches financial close
Solar Choice has this week reached financial close on an impressive 600kW project pursuant to a long term Roof Access Agreement negotiated with the ACT Government. The site for the […]
‘SunPort’ promises solar energy access to everyone – roof or no roof
Solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has come a long way in the past decade. Once seen as expensive, idealistic and useful only in niche applications, it has now entered the global […]
Brisbane Markets 1.06MW rooftop solar array installation complete (NEW IMAGES)
Installation of the solar arrays for the 1.06MW Brisbane Markets project – begun several months ago – is now complete. As we reported previously, Solar Choice Commercial brokered the winning bid on this iconic […]
Aussie-developed salt-based energy storage solution wins ANSTO Eureka Prize
A low-cost energy storage solution that uses salt to store excess electricity has been awarded one of Australia’s top science gongs, the ANSTO Eureka Prize for Innovative Use of Technology. […]
As feed-in tariffs end and battery prices fall, homes ‘hungry’ for batteries: ARENA CEO
The winding back of state-based solar feed-in tariffs could leave one million-plus Australian solar households “hungry” for energy storage, at the same time as battery costs start to decline, the […]
Victorian regulator confirms feed-in tariff to be slashed to 5c/kWh
Victoria’s Essential Services Commission has confirmed it will slash the feed-in tariff for solar power exported to the grid to 5c/kWh, starting January 01, 2016. The ESC announced the decision in in […]
Vic government to address barriers to wind farms, distributed solar & storage
Just weeks after the federal government ordered the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to cease backing wind energy and rooftop solar in Australia, Victoria’s state Labor government has committed to drive […]
New solar & storage-friendly electricity market rules delayed until 2020
New electricity market rules that could have encouraged Australian networks and consumers to take up solar PV, battery storage and demand management systems have been delayed for another five years. […]