The global renewable energy industry had a record-breaking year in 2015, according to the REN21 2016 Renewables Global Status Report, with 147GW of renewable generating capacity added worldwide – the […]
Tag: germany
Renewables supply record 90% of German power demand, sending prices into the negative
Solar, wind, biomass and hydro energy combined to supply a record 90 per cent of Germany’s total power demand at times on Sunday 8 May, and sent power prices into […]
Victoria could handily meet 30% renewables target by 2020: Report
A new report has found that Victoria could achieve a renewable energy target of 30 per cent by 2020, simply by maintaining medium growth of rooftop solar power and building […]
Over 5,000 ACT homes to get discounted battery storage under latest incentive round
More than 5,000 homes and businesses in the Australian Capital Territory will get discounted battery storage under the ACT’s latest round of capacity auctions for large-scale renewables. Around $25 million […]
Solar & wind are the future and ‘there is no going back’, says German energy minister
Germany’s Rainer Bakke – the minister responsible for the EU nation’s ambitious Energiewende, or energy transition, from coal and nuclear to renewable energy – says solar and wind energy have […]
A look back at 2015: The year Australia talked (a lot) about solar battery storage
With 2016 slated to be ‘the year of the battery‘, we could look back on 2015 as ‘the year of talking about the battery’. While the past 12 months were […]
German network can handle ‘huge amounts’ of solar-plus-storage – with no negative effects
Germany’s electricity network could support “huge amounts” of solar and storage without any negative impact, but rather to the overall benefit of the grid, a new study has found. The […]
Australia home to some of the lowest solar installation prices in the world, IEA confirms
Australia has some of the world’s cheapest installed system prices for grid-connected residential and commercial solar PV systems, according to the latest global PV report from the International Energy Agency, […]
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 […]
Three potential sites identified for ground-breaking SA energy storage project
Plans for Australia’s first large-scale, non-hydro energy storage project have progressed this week, with the identification of three potential sites in South Australia, and the submission of more than 40 […]
Panasonic to launch battery storage system for Australian market
Japanese electronics giant, Panasonic, is set to announce its battery storage rollout in the Australian market, along with its plans with “some of” Australia’s leading energy retailers.The product rollout, scheduled […]
Renewables sector employed 7.7 million people globally in 2014: IRENA
The global renewable energy industry employed 7.7 million people, directly or indirectly, in 2014, according to a report released on Tuesday night by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) – an 18 […]
Innovative German pilot hybrid project combines solar PV, CHP and battery storage
A German project that combines rooftop solar PV, combined heat and power technology, and battery storage could be adapted and scaled up elsewhere, according to General Electric, one of the […]
Tesla’s Elon Musk says Powerwall already economically viable in Australia
US electric vehicle and battery maker, Tesla, has declared energy storage already economically viable in Australia, as the upstart company’s founder and CEO Elon Musk provided more insight into why his new […]
Australia lags behind much of Western world in per-capita renewable capacity
Australia’s record on installed renewable energy, measured on a per capita basis, lags behind North America and most of Europe, a new report has shown. In the HSBC report, The […]
NREL report highlights massive potential for ‘shared solar’ projects
Half of all future distributed solar installations could come in the form of “shared solar”, according to a major new report released by the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory this […]
German solar energy production hits new record – over 25,000MW
Solar energy generation in Germany has hit a new high, with PV output breaking above 25,000MW for the first time last Wednesday. According to the web-site Montero, electricity produced by […]
177 GW of solar installed worldwide: IEA 2014 snapshot report
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has released their ‘2014 Snapshot of Global PV Markets’ report. The published figures state that, as of the end of 2014, there is now a […]
France mandates solar or green roofs for all new commercial buildings
The French Parliament approved a new law that will require the rooftops of newly constructed commercial buildings to be partially covered with either plants or solar panels. The legislation – […]
Energy storage will boom amid burgeoning US solar market
Nearly 10 per cent of all solar systems in North America would have energy included in as little as three years’ time, a new study has found. IHS said on Monday that, […]
36GW of large-scale solar power now installed globally
According the preliminary figures released by Wiki-Solar late last month, global utility-scale photovoltaics added 14.2GW in 2014, which doubled the 2013 total and brought total generating capacity to 35.9GW in […]
Germany introduces new incentive program for ground-mounted solar farms
Germany’s Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) has announced its first-ever tender process for ground-mounted photovoltaic systems. The pilot tenders, which were approved late last month through an executive order by Angela […]
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 […]
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 […]
Belectric’s lead-acid ‘Energy Buffer Unit’ competing directly with combustion generators
Belectric have installed a 2 MWh lead-acid battery ‘Energy Buffer Unit’ (EBU) in Alt Daber (Germany) designed to provide primary operating reserve power. It is touted as the first solar PV […]
German utility giant E.ON splits in two in order to focus on renewables
Europe’s largest power utility has announced plans to dump conventional, fossil fuel energy generation and focus instead on renewables and customer-led distributed generation solutions. In what has been described as […]
UNSW solar pioneer Prof Martin Green foresees PV as #1 energy source globally by 2050
A world-leading Australian solar PV researcher has predicted that the cost of photovoltaic technology will fall by another 50 per cent over the next decade, making it a game-changing energy […]
Australia still lagging behind other nations in uptake of large-scale solar
Australia is still lagging behind the pace on large-scale solar, with the latest data revealing it has not moved from its position at number 31, behind the Dominican Republic, despite […]
Conergy to build 2MW heart-shaped solar plant in New Caledonia
The Australian arm of German solar giant Conergy has announced it will be building a 2MW solar PV plant in New Caledonia – a project that aims to send a […]
2014 brings expansion for robotic solar tracking manufacturer QBotix, with 80MW of supply now under contract globally
The futuristic robotic sun-tracking technology innovated by California-based QBotix is gaining traction in markets around the world, as the company’s good news streak stretches through 2014 with announcements of supply contract […]
