The Queensland Labor government’s promise of a better deal for rooftop solar households has met with resistance from its most senior bureaucrat in the department of energy. Paul Simshauser, appointed […]
Tag: peak demand
Solar changing electricity demand patterns, could reduce need for network investment
A new report by Morgan Stanley analysts has illustrated how increasing amounts of rooftop solar on Australian networks is changing patterns of energy demand, and could mean networks will be […]
SA Power Networks could introduce $100 annual charge for solar homes
South Australia’s monopoly power network operator, SA Power Networks, has flagged the introduction of a $100 a year network surcharge on the state’s solar households. The proposal was revealed in […]
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, […]
NSW Labor releases document detailing strong renewable energy support policy for state
NSW Labor has released a renewable energy-focused environment and energy policy, promising a fair price for solar and an emphasis on decentralised generation. The policy document, released on Tuesday, outlines around 10 major […]
Rooftop solar helps Queensland avoid new peak demand record
The temperature was not the only number that soared across Queensland on Thursday 5 March: so did power demand. As WattClarity’s Paul McArdle notes, electricity demand reached a peak of […]
Flow battery maker Redflow to build its first commercial system in Australia
Australian battery developer Redflow has sold a commercial-scale model of its zinc bromide flow energy storage system to its company director, tech guru Simon Hackett, who will couple it with […]
APVI slams Australian Energy Market Commission over unfair, ineffective tariff structures
The Australian Photovoltaic Institute has issued a scathing critique of proposed guidelines for electricity network pricing and tariffs, arguing that instead of reducing consumer bills, the new regimes will simply […]
Rooftop PV frequently meets 1/4 of daytime electricity demand in SA
Rooftop solar PV is currently accounting for around 25 per cent of electricity demand in South Australia, for large parts of the day, new data has shown. Two graphs, taken […]
Over 30% of SA electricity came from renewables in 2013/2014, 1 in 4 homes now have solar
South Australia has delivered on its 2020 renewable energy target six years head of schedule, with the state’s share of wind and solar nearing 33 per cent in 2013/14. Official […]
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’. […]
Inefficient pricing, not renewables, to blame for Australian electricity cost pain: Grattan Institute
The situation in Australia’s electricity sector have come to what might be described as perfect storm conditions for leaving the grid, and unfair & inefficient pricing mechanisms are largely to blame, […]
Solar will dominate new generation capacity buildout to 2030: BNEF
Solar looks set to dominate new electricity capacity and investment in Australia, with a new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicting solar PV will account for nearly half of […]
Rooftop solar will slow or reduce electricity demand in WA
Western Australia’s Independent Market Operator says it expects the state’s electricity demand to increase by nearly 2 per cent cent a year over the next decade, depending on the impact […]
Abbott says RET driving up power prices, while solar appears to sink market electricity price in QLD
Are clean energy schemes driving up the price of electricity? In the case of the carbon tax, the answer seems pretty clearly to be ‘yes’–that’s what it was intended to do, initially […]
First Solar says utility-scale solar price will halve by 2019–if RET remains intact
The cost of utility-scale solar in Australia will halve over the next five years, making it cheaper than wind energy by 2020, according to predictions from one of the world’s […]
FRV suggests energy storage ‘multiplier’ incentive to encourage renewables, reduce peak demand
Spanish renewables group, FRV, has suggested the introduction of a form of banding, or a “multiplier,” to encourage the development of energy storage. FRV suggests a multiplier could be applied […]
How to get the most out of your solar PV system part 1: System sizing & power usage
Anyone who has done some investigation into having solar panels installed in Australia should by now understand that the whole endeavour only makes economic sense if the home in question […]
Aussie rooftop solar now 5% of total generation capacity: IEA
Rooftop solar PV now accounts for around 5 per cent of electricity capacity and 2 per cent of electricity generation in Australia, according to a report from the International Energy […]
Remembering the Solar Summer of 2013-2014
This past summer was a hot one, and Australia’s electricity infrastructure certainly felt the heat as huge numbers of households switched on AC units to keep cool. The folks from […]
New energy storage incentive program in Japan will cover 2/3 of install costs
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has introduced a generous incentive for lithium-ion energy storage that could reduce energy storage system installation costs by up to 2/3. This […]
Benefits of rooftop solar to the electricity grid are clearly visible in South Australia
New data revealed by the network operator shows that the amount of rooftop solar installations has surged in South Australia, and it is having a real impact in shifting the […]
Limiting peak demand with ‘pipe’ approach won’t work for Australia, says APVI
When electricity demand peaks, it not only requires power plants to be fired up to meet the demand, but also increases the price of electricity. For example, in the US, […]
AEMO data confirms rooftop solar pushing back peak energy demand in Vic and SA
The ability of rooftop solar to shift the peak of consumption has been highlighted by new analysis from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) into events during the recent heat-waves […]
Rooftop solar’s key role in keeping the lights on during the heatwave
Solar power is incontrovertibly having an impact on the Australian electricity market. For renewable energy advocates, the performance of the nation’s ‘people’s power plant’–now spread across nearly 2 million roofs–over […]
Can Australian solar PV reduce peak demand during heat waves?
The record high temperatures that parts of Australia has witnessed since the arrival of the new year have been a hot topic in the news, with temperatures coming close to […]
South Australia’s solar panel success story
South Australia is Australia’s renewable energy leader in terms of per-capita power generation. Although wind power, accounting for over 20% of the state’s power generation, has clearly had the biggest […]
Queensland’s solar PV system owners help reduce peak demand
The recent record temperatures across Queensland have helped demonstrate the positive contribution that residential solar PV systems make to the grid, that’s the word from utilities company Ergon Energy. Commenting […]
Australian Solar Energy Society (AUSES) changes name to Australian Solar Energy Council
The Australian Solar Energy Society (AUSES) has changed its name to the Australian Solar Energy Council (AUSEC) to reflect its changing role in Australia’s solar power industry as well as […]
