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Solar Flagships’ Solar Dawn Consortium re-states its case to Queensland Government

May 17, 2012
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Queensland’s proposed Solar Dawn concentrating solar power plant has vowed to carry on despite the newly elected Liberal-National government’s vows to withdraw funding from the project. Under the previous Labour regime, the Queensland government had promised to put forth $75m in funding for the project in order to enable it to meet funding requirements to procure [...]

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Scotland beats its own renewable energy target, expects lower electricity prices in the future

May 15, 2012
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35% of the electricity generated in Scotland came from renewable sources in 2011, according to figures published by the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change. This puts Scotland ahead of its intermediary target of 31% renewable energy by 2011. The country plans on generating the equivalent of 100% of its energy from renewables by [...]

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90kW solar catamaran completes journey around the world

May 9, 2012
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An ambitious project showcasing the potential of solar PV has just come to a close. Pulling into Monaco on 4 May 2012, MS Turanor PlanetSolar catamaran has become the first vehicle to complete an around-the-world trip relying only on the power of the sun. Blog this! Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share on Linkedin [...]

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Hybrid solar PV-geothermal power plant online in Nevada

May 8, 2012
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A unique hybrid geothermal-solar photovoltaics (PV) plant is now producing power in Churchill County, Nevada. Although Nevada is home to a number of geothermal power plants, the hybrid Stillwater plant is the first anywhere in the world to set up the two technologies side-by-side. Blog this! Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share on Linkedin [...]

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Japan closes last nuclear plant, clearing the way for solar PV

May 8, 2012
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The last remaining operational nuclear power plant in Japan has been shut down for routine maintenance and testing, leaving the country nuclear-free for the first time in over 40 years. The country has a total of 50 nuclear reactors, and was once the world’s 3rd largest user nuclear power. Facing power shortages of up to [...]

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World-wide solar PV peak body founded: Global Solar Council

May 4, 2012
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A number of major players from the global solar photovoltaics (PV) industry have announced the formation of a Global Solar Council (GSC). The goal of the GSC’s establishment is to promote the sustainable, cost-competitive expansion of global development of solar power through encouraging the use of supportive government policies and trade environments. Blog this! Digg [...]

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Origin Energy: Reduce the Renewable Energy Target

May 3, 2012

Origin Energy CEO Grant King has suggested that Australia should consider reducing its target of 20% renewable energy production by 2020 under the Federal Government’s Renewable Energy Target (RET). Thanks to rising electricity prices and expected associated demand reductions, plus accelerated uptake of rooftop solar PV systems and solar hot water, Origin claims that Australia will [...]

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The dark side of solar power: Super-black solar cell absorbs 99.7% of light

Thumbnail image for The dark side of solar power: Super-black solar cell absorbs 99.7% of light May 3, 2012

      A collaboration between Natcore Tech and the US Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) has birthed the darkest silicon solar cells in the world. The cells absorb 99.7% of all light that occurs on its surface–only 0.3% of light is reflected. By comparison, most solar cells commercially available today absorb just 95% of incident [...]

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Solar Power and Electric Vehicles: Solar Power to Horesepower

April 30, 2012
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Clearly the global solar panel industry has grown at a rapid rate over the last few years with Germany leading the way. However, the next step of this rapidly evolving market is how to manage the surplus power that our solar panels are generating. It seems logical and sensible to consider that Electric Cars are [...]

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Quasi-mono Silicon Solar PV Panels?

April 27, 2012
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A new type of crystalline silicon solar cell has been developed which may change the nature of the solar PV market: quasi-mono silicon. The two most popular types for solar panels for residential and commercial solar installations are either monocrystalline or polycrystalline silicon solar panels. Once produced on a mass scale, this new technology will [...]

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Final installation in Alice Springs Solar City project

April 27, 2012
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    The final solar PV installation in the Alice Springs Solar City project is approaching completion, bringing the installation phase of the project closer to a conclusion. With the completion of the 162kW rooftop solar installation, 3% of the city’s electricity needs will be met by solar power–one of the highest levels in Australia. [...]

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Big Solar Power for Port Augusta, SA

April 24, 2012
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    Renewable Energy thinktank Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) has called for Port Augusta, South Australia’s ageing Playford B and Northern coal-fired power plants, which currently provide roughly 40% of SA’s electricity–to be replaced with baseload concentrating solar power (CSP) plants and wind power, as opposed to gas-fired generation plants. A new BZE report–”Repowering Port [...]

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Queensland Government vows to halt domestic electricity price rises for 12 months

April 24, 2012

The Queensland government, under the new Liberal Premier Cameron Newman, has vowed to put an end to electricity price hikes for 12 months, beginning 1 July 2012. The staying of the electricity price rises will apply to residences but not commercial premises. Additionally, a price rise of 7% is still expected due to the implementation [...]

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Solar energy to be cost competitive with coal and nuclear by 2020: McKinsley

April 23, 2012
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According to a recent report, Solar Energy is set to establish equivalent costs with brown energy sources by 2020. Poised to deepen the market share in clean energy sectors worldwide, solar power’s respective component cost and energy efficiency aspects will drive it towards this milestone sooner than world markets had expected. Blog this! Digg this [...]

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Solar Leasing/”Free Solar Panels”/Pay-as-you-go solar agreements now available in Australia

April 23, 2012
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The so-called “free solar panels” (sometimes called “pay-as you-go solar” or “solar leasing”) business model that has already seen major success in the USA and the UK  is now available in Australia. What are often referred to as free solar panels schemes–although not technically free–are actually pay-as-you-go arrangements that allows customers to install a solar [...]

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Largest wind turbine in the world installed off coast of Belgium

April 17, 2012
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    A wind turbine with a rated capacity of 6.15 megawatts (MW)–the largest in the world–has been installed off the Belgian coast. Altogether, 48 wind turbines of this size and type will be installed to compose the Thornton Bank wind farm, and the same technology is already slated to be used in future wind [...]

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Dubbo, NSW the Solar PV System Capital of Australia

April 13, 2012
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With over 28% of homes having installed solar PV systems, Dubbo NSW has emerged as Australia’s top solar postcode, according the Clean Energy Council (CEC). Solar Choice has played a major role in helping Dubbo claim this crown: of the 2,100 solar PV systems installed in the 2830 postcode area (i.e. Dubbo and surrounds), more than [...]

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Solar installations booming in Japan

April 12, 2012
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Thanks in part to a strong national Solar Feed-in Tariff, over 1 million Japanese homes are expected to have gone solar as of March 2012, and the number of installations is projected to grow by approximately 12% annually over the next few years, according to a report by Kyocera Solar, one of Japan’s leading solar panel [...]

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UNSW designs Solar BIPV roofing materials that regulate building temperature

March 30, 2012
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The University of New South Wales’ School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering is in the process of developing building-integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) roofing materials which can also assist in regulating building temperature. The research initiative will be undertaken under the Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) on Low-Carbon Living grant program, which will provide $28 million dollars [...]

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Queensland Solar Bonus Feed-in Tariff ‘safe’ after LNP wins election

March 26, 2012
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Queensland’s Labour Party has lost the March 2012 parliamentary election, trounced by the state’s Liberal National Party (LNP). The LNP’s victory leaves many solar PV system owners and solar PV system installers wondering what will become of the state’s Solar Bonus Scheme Feed-in Tariff, which offers Queensland system owners 44c for every kilowatt-hour of solar [...]

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First Tindo Karra 240 Solar Installation in Adelaide

March 16, 2012
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The first installation using Australia’s own Tindo Karra 240 solar panels has been installed in Adelaide. Blog this! Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Share on Linkedin Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Print for later Tell a friend

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