Solar PV prices hit a new “all-time low” in the US in 2015, according to the latest state of the market reports from the the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence […]
Tag: california
The end of bill shock? Opower on how they can help your electricity retailer help you help yourself
Opower is a specialist technology provider for utilities promising to usher in a new era of electricity retailer-customer relationships. Their ‘customer engagement platform’ allows retail electricity customers to have an unprecedented […]
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 […]
NEXTracker’s self-powered, horizontal axis solar tracking system
NEXTracker is a California-based developer of an innovative self-power, horizontal single-axis solar tracking system which has been deployed in solar farms across the globe. NEXTracker now has over 500MW of […]
Federal environment minister: battery storage & off-grid living ‘clearly the future’
Federal environment minister Greg Hunt has repeated his vow to help accelerate the deployment of battery storage in Australia, after describing it as “inevitable” that significant numbers of consumers would […]
Utility business model is in danger – and Australia is the proverbial ‘canary in the coal mine’
The point when the cost of solar electricity generation falls below that of the cost of the network is the real threat to traditional utilities, a new report has warned. […]
Tesla’s Powerwall & Powerpack sales add up to $US1B – without marketing
Tesla’s residential Powerwall batteries and larger-scale Powerpacks have already notched up $US1 billion worth of sales, and the California-based EV maker says its delivery book to early 2017 is already […]
In California, now anyone can sell power into the grid
California has cleared the way for homes and businesses to sell their stored electricity into the grid at a profit, thanks to new legislation that allows the aggregation of distributed energy […]
Aussie property developers could skip grid to design microgrid-powered communities
Australian property developers are exploring the option of not connecting newly built housing estates to the electricity grid, but instead offering solar and storage as part of a standard package, industry […]
New joint venture to develop floating solar projects throughout North America
Solar Power Inc. (SPI) and Aqua Clean Energy (ACE) last month announced a joint venture to develop new floating solar projects throughout the U.S. and Mexico. The partnership will bring […]
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, […]
Google HQ to get green makeover
California-based tech giant Google has unveiled plans to give its Mountain View headquarters a green makeover, that will include the installation of translucent solar power-generating canopies. Plans submitted to the […]
Australia’s first floating solar farm to come to South Australia
Floating solar technology has generated excitement all across the globe in recent years, and plans are now underway in Australia to build the country’s first such facility. The plant, which […]
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 […]
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 […]
PV systems boost US property value by an average of $18,000
A recent report by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US quantifies the increase in property values for US homes fitted with rooftop PV systems. The study found that the […]
Floating solar power: Floatovoltaics, Liquid Solar Arrays and Solar Islands set to change the way we look at solar
Floating solar projects have headlines in in a number of cleantech publications for the past few years, thanks mainly to their novelty, the ingenuity of their approach and their often […]
AES Energy Storage to build record-breaking battery bank
AES Energy Storage is set to construct the world’s largest battery bank in Long Beach, California. The 400 MWh energy storage facility – which can provide a peak power output of […]
Make it snappy – SMASH Solar aims to halve PV installation time
SMASH Solar have received US$1.5M of funding from the US Department of Energy (DoE) to further develop their snap-together PV mounting system. The product is designed to simplify mounting structures […]
Tesla looking to power Australian ‘supercharger’ stations with solar PV
US electric vehicle company Tesla Motors is looking to power its Australian network of EV supercharging stations with solar. Tesla Superchargers currently allow Model S owners to travel for free between […]
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 […]
Renewable microgrids could see boom in regional Asia-Pacific
Remote parts of the Asia Pacific region, including rural Australia, could soon see a boom in regional microgrids with heavy integration of renewable energy technologies, according to a recent report from […]
Google to invest $145m USD to transform spent oil field into 82MW solar farm
Internet search engine giant Google is investing $145 million in a renewable energy project that will see an old oil and gas field in California transformed into a solar farm. […]
Samoa gets 546kW solar PV plant as South Pacific solar usage grows
South Pacific Island efforts to reduce dependence on costly and polluting diesel fuel continue, with the installation of 546kW of solar PV across the islands of Samoa – the independent […]
SunPower to trial solar leasing program in Australia
America’s second-largest PV manufacturer, SunPower, is set to test its rooftop solar leasing program in Australia, with the launched this week of a pilot program in Melbourne. The Nasdaq-listed solar […]
Sharp enters energy storage market with SmartStorage
In a major boost to the growing market for grid and renewable energy storage, Japanese PV manufacturer, Sharp, has recently debuted a new grid connect energy storage solution dubbed ‘SmartStorage’. […]
With Moree Solar Farm’s future secured, ‘great opportunities’ await NSW large-scale solar
Moree Solar Farm, the ground-breaking 56MW PV tracking plant slated for development in the NSW farming district, is set to begin construction within months after finally securing financial closure this week. […]
Areva announces withdrawal from solar thermal business, leaving questions about Australian projects
French nuclear giant Areva has announced that it is pulling the plug on its solar thermal business, citing weak sales and falling revenues across nuclear and renewables. The move casts […]
SunPower to offer commercial energy storage solution in Australia in 2015
Commercial energy storage systems could hit the Australian market as soon as next year, according to leading US solar company SunPower. SunPower, one of the world’s biggest PV module manufacturers […]
CEFC earmarks $120 million for solar leasing in Australia
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), after surviving another government attempt to legislate its dismantling, has announced $120 million worth of financing for solar leasing deals and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) in […]
