Dr Matthew Tetlow and the solar-powered CubeSat : University of Adelaide
Early this morning Australian time, the first Aussie-built satellites to be launched for 15 years left terra firma from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
One of the tiny nanosatellites, or CubeSats, was built at University of Adelaide and is being delivered along with two other locally-made devices by NASA on an Atlas V rocket bound for the International Space Station.
Aggregated, wireless power transfer can enable massive storage to be rolled out very quickly and very cheaply.
These are, quite literally, dark days for national energy security.
The South Australian grid is in disarray and blackouts threaten to engulf other states as soon as summer rolls around again or adverse weather conditions strike. [Read more…]
Tindo Solar is now owned by SA company ‘Cool or Cosy’.
Tindo Solar, Australia’s only manufacturer of Solar panels has been bought by South Australia’s insulation, solar installation, and energy efficiency company Cool or Cosy.
The deal was announced on… Well actually, it hasn’t been announced yet1. But since I’m from Queensland, obviously I know Julian Assange, so you can trust me to know all the secrets. [Read more…]
Which of our elected politicians can tell the difference? Read on to find out…
Yesterday all of South Australia was blacked out and parts of the state are still without grid power today. This occurred because a powerful storm damaged transmission lines and the entire state grid automatically shut down as a safety precaution to prevent more damage.
Restarting a grid after a complete shutdown is complex and requires several hours. And it took several hours for grid power to start to be restored.
There is no mystery to what happened. It is very simple:
1. There was a really big storm.
2. Transmission lines were damaged.
3. The grid shut down automatically as a safety precaution, like it should have.
If you don’t believe power lines were damaged by strong winds, here is a picture of high voltage, steel girder, transmission towers near Port Augusta. The wind bent them over so their tops touch the ground.
This picture shows how unusual the situation was. Transmission towers do not normally lie down on the ground to take a rest.
In addition to gale force winds there were also so many lightning strikes they would have been countless if someone hadn’t counted them and tornadoes. As more detailed information is reported we will probably learn if it was lightning strikes, gale force winds, or a big willy willy that provided the straw that safety precautioned the camel’s back. [Read more…]
WA leads the way for solar power adoption
A recent study underlining the popularity of rooftop solar in WA has given Australians a glimpse into the country’s solar-driven energy future. For a survey conducted by Curtin University that has everyone talking is the one that shows power generated from rooftop solar systems in the state’s South-West Interconnected System (SWIS) produce as much energy as the state’s largest power station.
“We are in the extraordinary position of saying that Perth [SWIS] now has rooftop solar as the largest supplier of electricity, it’s the biggest power station in WA,” said Curtin University sustainability professor Peter Newman to the ABC AM program.
He added that the area currently has 20 percent coverage of solar panels, though this was just the beginning. [Read more…]
CEO of First Solar reacts to Abbott’s latest speech on energy policy
One recurring, if unfortunate, theme of these pages has been the constant spectre of uncertainty in Australian solar policy. We’ve ranted before about why Australia should be led by more forward thinking pollies in both Canberra and the state capitals but bugger it, when you’re onto a good thing, why not continue?
So here goes, Rant #234 about the paucity of Australian solar policy leadership… [Read more…]
Stop The Press! Something positive out of Canberra!
The feverish activity in Canberra continues. Kevin Rudd (aka The Milky Bar Kid) is PM this week apparently. But we thought we’d pop down the road to the seat of the far more interesting ACT territory government for this week’s solar news. For it is here that Australian commercial solar history is being made. (See our previous rant on the development of this solar farm).
Overshadowed by the shenanigans of their Fed cousins, the ACT government recently passed legislation which will see the country’s largest commercial solar farm built at Royalla. The facility, just outside the nation’s capital, has been the subject of bitter debate but the ACT’s Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development Simon “Solar” Corbell, in standing his ground against well-organised protests, pointed out the many benefits the farm will bring to the territory. [Read more…]
Why not pitch in and buy a community solar system with your mates?
While our recent articles on big Aussie banks and respected mining services companies picking up the solar baton have been a huge encouragement for solar fans, news has been not as good lately in what passes for government (and alternative government) policy. Should we therefore be thinking of the burgeoning grass roots community solar movement as another way forward to the Promised Land of a renewable energy Australia?
Image: Parliament of Australia website
If you think this column exists solely to bash the often non-existent solar energy policies of certain state governments and Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition you’re mostly correct. We’ve often been critical of the myopic policies taken towards solar in both federal and state capitals, a “scorched earth” policy directed by many pollies towards solar energy in particular.
This lack of consistency for big solar investors as well as those wishing to install domestic solar systems is a major cause of the highly damaging “boom and bust” syndrome that has characterised the Australian solar energy sector. [Read more…]
Tokelau is 100% Solar Woo-Hoo!
Solar energy in the Pacific took a giant leap forward this week when New Zealand-controlled territory Tokelau completed the switch from diesel to solar as its main fuel source. Tokelau is now nearly 100 percent reliant on the sun for its power needs and its model is showing the way for the rest of the world. [Read more…]
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