A total of 23 per cent of all households in South Australia now produce their own solar energy, according to new data, with another 17,000 installing rooftop PV systems in […]
Category: Solar Choice News
Solar Choice’s news service about local, national and global developments about solar photovoltaics and related technology.
Solar industry responds to Hunt’s solar safety inquiry
Federal environment minister Greg Hunt has called for an “urgent and immediate” inquiry into the safety and quality of Australia’s rooftop solar market, raising concerns among industry leaders that the […]
Tanzania’s Million Solar Homes initiative highlights huge potential for off-grid renewables
The Tanzanian government has announced an initiative aimed at providing a million homes with solar by the end of 2017, becoming the latest developing nation to tap distributed renewables to […]
Imergy introduces vanadium flow battery solution for utility, commercial & industrial applications
With the introduction of its third-generation vanadium flow battery, Imergy Power Systems is stirring up excitement within the commercial and industrial energy storage market. The ESP250 is the latest addition […]
Tanzania kicks off One Million Solar Homes initiative
The Tanzanian government has announced an ambitious initiative that would bring solar energy to as many as 1 million homes by the end of 2017. When all is said and done, […]
Freemantle, WA to build 10MW solar farm on council land
Western Australia’s City of Fremantle has become the latest local government group in Australia to proposed installing a large-scale solar farm on council land, to reduce their carbon footprint and […]
Australia’s Redflow to fast-track rollout of ‘flow batteries’ for homes, businesses and mining operations
Australian energy storage company Redflow says it is fast-tracking the rollout of its battery products to the residential and mining sector, in yet another sign that storage costs are falling […]
PERC solar cells steadily gaining steam in PV manufacturing
The Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) structure offers a 1% efficiency boost (absolute) and improves the current state-of-the-art by integrating a high-efficiency rear surface design. The PERC design has […]
Solar-plus-storage project sees revival in WA
Plans to install large-scale solar thermal power at the Mundari Industrial estate in Western Australia’s Goldfields region have been revived, with two local solar developers expressing interest in the project. […]
Tesla Motors unveils plans for home energy storage solution
Despite a disappointing 2014 Q4 earnings report, Tesla Motors is marching forward and looking to expand its business into the emerging energy storage market. During an earnings conference call with […]
DistribuTECH conference focuses on impact of distributed energy on utility business models
During the DistribuTECH Power Transmission Conference in San Diego at the beginning of February, executives from all across the US utility sector agreed on one point: their industry is changing […]
Extension of Renewable Energy Target could trigger large-scale solar boom in Aus
A new report has warned that Australia could miss out on the booming global solar market – a market some say will be worth more than $130 billion by 2020 […]
Western Australia mining company to build Australia’s largest solar-plus-storage system
Western Australian mining company Sandfire Resources is set to build a 10.6MW solar PV array, with “6MW” of battery storage, to power an existing off-grid copper mine 900kms north east of […]
Largest floating solar array in USA planned for New Jersey reservoir
Bold plans are underway in Atlantic City, NJ, to install what is believed to be the largest system of floating solar panels in the US, according to ShoreNewsToday.com. Bruce Ward, […]
Business Renewables Center aims to help double US wind & solar capacity by 2025
America’s large-scale solar market is set to get a boost after the launch last week of a new business advisory body aimed at speeding up the shift to renewables by […]
Next round of ACT feed-in tariff for large-scale renewables to foster solar-plus-storage projects
The ACT government is set to follow up its successful utility-scale solar and wind energy reverse auctions with another renewables bidding round – this time for large-scale solar plus storage […]
Solar Choice’s 2GW Bulli Creek Solar Farm receives planning approval from Toowoomba Regional Council
Originally published on RenewEconomy A staged plan to build what would be the largest solar PV plant in Australia – and possibly the largest yet proposed in the world – […]
Quiet innovations keeping screen printed solar cells on top
For all the well-deserved hype surrounding advanced solar cell designs, the screen printed (SP) solar cell remains the industry standard. Accounting for approximately 90% of worldwide production in 2014, its […]
Distributed rooftop solar is the new ‘shale’ for US energy market
A new US report has described solar energy as the new “shale,” predicting it will transform power markets, with large-scale solar expected to reach grid parity in nearly 75% of […]
Concentrated solar PV costs could match fossil fuel costs by 2030
The cost of generating electricity from concentrating solar PV plants could be cheaper than that generated from fossil fuel sources by as soon as 2030, a new report has predicted. […]
South Australians turn to solar amid rising retail electricity prices
In 2002, the South Australian government introduced sweeping reform in the electricity sector, allowing retailers to compete for customers. The basic idea was to give consumers a broader choice of electricity […]
2016 Obama budget could bolster US solar industry
The US solar sector stands to get a significant boost from the Obama administration’s 2016 budget draft, with a permanent extension of government tax credits for renewables proposed to Congress.Currently, […]
NSW’s Broken Hill solar farm to be completed by end of 2015
The Broken Hill solar plant in New South Wales will be completed as scheduled by the end of the year, according to a press release from the plant’s developer, utility […]
US utility giant NRG to offer ‘community-shared solar’ to customers
One of America’s biggest power utilities is set to co-develop more than 8 megawatts of community solar projects in a joint venture with Colorado-based community energy group, SunShare. The renewables […]
Labor’s landslide in Queensland election could spell sunny future for solar
Campbell Newman’s loss in the Queensland state election on the weekend could be solar’s gain, as attention turns to the Labor party’s renewable energy policy. Queensland’s Labor Party unveiled its solar […]
In sign of the times, both SuperBowl teams’ home stadiums have solar
The two NFL teams who competed in this year’s Super Bowl in the US this weekend have solar systems installed at their home stadiums, new research has revealed. According to data […]
Two produce companies first to benefit as CEFC & Comm Bank team up to finance commercial solar
A $100 million financing facility established by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Commonwealth Bank has helped two major Victorian produce suppliers install 100KW of solar PV each, cutting […]
USA will have 28GW of solar installed by end of 2015: SEIA
The continued surge in US solar growth could boost the nation’s accumulated capacity to 28GW by the end of 2015, new research has predicted. In a recent presentation by America’s […]
World’s largest solar-powered desalinisation plant to be built in Saudi Arabia
The world’s first large-scale solar powered water desalination plant is set to be built in Saudi Arabia, after a local company revealed it would build a $130 million facility alongside […]
Panel maker Suntech expands reach to energy storage, performance monitoring & off-grid renewables
Suntech Power is well known in Australia as a solar panel manufacturer. Now a subsidiary of Shunfeng International Clean Energy Ltd. (formerly Shunfeng Photovoltaic International Ltd.), the company has installed […]
The untapped potential of Australia’s capital cities
In the first part of this series, we outlined the enormous potential for Australia to become a solar energy exporter for the southeast Asia region. In fact, we are so […]
