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Election 2016: renewables roundup week #7 – the Brexit Edition

June 27, 2016 2017-10-25T08:23:30 by 5 Comments
brexit text on solar

Q. What does the Brexit mean for Australian Solar? A. Higher prices.

Well that was interesting wasn’t it folks? Just as the Australian election was drifting off into the sunset, we get hit by the arrival of an enormous, loud and dangerous elephant in the room. I’m talking of course of the surprise Brexit result where Brits voted to exit the European Union, a result that sent shock waves across the world.

Prime Minister Turnbull was quick to grace our screens (sans the hi-vis vest and hard hat this time) to assure us — in his most statesmanlike voice — that the vote would not affect Australia in any way. The fact that he looked like a kid hauled before the headmaster, with a trembling bottom lip and shaky “wasn’t me, wasn’t me” speech didn’t make him look that convincing though.

Next came Bouncing Billy Shorten, who will now see his chances of winning the election recede, also determined to tell us that his party’s policies are the best choice in these now choppy waters. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy Tagged With: , ,

WA Solar Power: a template for the future of energy in Australia

January 22, 2016 2017-10-25T09:27:40 by 5 Comments
WA leads the way for solar power adoption

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…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With:

Paris climate talks: out of weasel words comes light at the end of the tunnel

December 13, 2015 2017-10-25T09:28:40 by 12 Comments

paris climate talksWhat do you think about the hoopla surrounding the signing of the Paris Climate Talks agreement readers? Happy? Deflated? A sense of the same old, same old? Or a new beginning for the planet? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar and the Environment Tagged With: , , ,

Solar + Flywheel Microgrid Saves 400,000 Litres of Diesel Annually

September 10, 2015 2017-10-25T09:32:40 by 8 Comments
solar diesel

Solar has been installed with a huge flywheel to smooth its output in WA. The result is a town that is 60% solar powered, and a 400,000 litre reduction in annual diesel usage. Great Aussie innovation!

We’ve all seen the success of solar energy in our cities and regional towns. Australians are voting with their rooftops for clean, green solar power and the trend is increasing as solar reaches grid parity. But what of communities in our vast Outback? What of our small remote towns currently reliant on polluting fossil fuels such as diesel? It is here that microgrids, solar energy and the Outback are coming together to create a new, cleaner energy future.

In doing so, these microgrids for remote communities are giving the country a glimpse of a new way of accessing energy. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economics Of Solar Tagged With: ,

Huge Jump in Queensland Commercial Solar Installations

January 19, 2015 2018-03-23T15:28:56 by 3 Comments
office in QLD with solar

Offices and Factories in QLD are installing solar at an increasing rate.

We’ve documented before the lack of love of the Newman government towards solar energy in Queensland. In the midst of a state election where the shrill rhetoric is matched only by the embarrassing speed of the election call, the level of antipathy has risen as the LNP seek to demolish the arguments of the pro-renewables lobby.

However, despite the LNP’s efforts, it seems an important chunk of their traditional electorate aren’t listening. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Policy Tagged With: , ,

Focus on solar microgrids as fossil fuel wavers

October 13, 2014 2017-10-25T09:59:27 by 3 Comments
microgrid with solar and PV

Taking whole streets (or villages) off the grid is likely to become more common.

What role will community-based solar microgrids play as Aussies look for environmental and affordable energy alternatives?

First, I should explain what a microgrid actually is. It is simply a cluster of buildings, all connected together electrically, but not connected to the wider electric grid. An example would be taking your whole street off the grid instead of simply your own home. If you do this, you can share solar generation and battery storage among other things. As feed in tariffs get lower, this becomes more attractive. Wouldn’t you rather your sell excess solar energy to your neighbour for a fair price than be forced to sell it to someone like Energex for a miserly 6c per kWh?

According to analysts Frost and Sullivan’s report “Analysis of the Asia-Pacific Microgrid Market” the microgrid electrification (including solar programs) is expected to reach a sales figure of $813 million by 2020, growing at an expected astonishing rise of 38.3 percent over that of 2013. Countries surveyed by Frost and Sullivan include Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines and (yes!) Australia. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Economics Of Solar Tagged With: , ,

MIT discovers how to make cheap solar panels from old car batteries

September 22, 2014 2017-10-25T10:00:11 by 4 Comments
What do we do with gazillions of old, toxic car batteries? Simple. Turn them into cheap solar panels!

What do we do with gazillions of old, toxic car batteries? Simple. Turn them into cheap solar panels of course!

Cheap solar panels made from old car batteries?

Yup! That is the latest clean energy recycling breakthrough from researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). And the verdict at SQHQ is “GENIUS!”.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Panels Tagged With: , ,

Interview with Paul O’Reilly of the Rainbow Power Company

March 5, 2012 2017-10-25T10:29:27 by Leave a Comment
Rainbow Power Company Logo

Rainbow Power Company – one of Australia’s oldest solar companies

In this, the first in what we hope will be a number of interviews with solar opinion leaders, business people and experts in the solar industry we chat with Paul O’Reilly, director of the Nimbin-based Rainbow Power Company. Sit back and enjoy as Paul talks feed-in tariffs, the almost constant boom and bust cycles in the Australian solar industry and his optimism for the future.

The solar industry must have changed a lot since Rainbow Power Company first set up? Do you think this has been for better or worse?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Solar Installation Tagged With: , , , ,
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