Posts By Staff Writer On SolarQuotes

Election renewables news roundup Week #2

May 22, 2016 2017-10-25T08:25:19 by 5 Comments
turnbull

Whilst pollies spent the week campaigning, Aussie researchers made the biggest breakthrough in solar efficiency in years.

Used to being marginalised during election campaigns, the renewables sector hasn’t exactly sprung to the centre of attention during the latest most important election since the last one. However there are signs that the two major parties are taking notice of the Australian electorate’s overwhelming support for a strong renewable energy policy as we dip into the election renewables news roundup for the second week. [Read more…]

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Election renewables news roundup Week #1

May 15, 2016 2017-10-25T08:25:35 by Leave a Comment

election-week-1

And it’s on for young and old! It was a race to the wardrobe to find the hi-visibility vests and hard hats as soon as our PM got the nod for an early election last week. Breathless, the two have traversed the land in the first week, trying to appear with as many workers and small business people as possible to squeeze in one camera shot. [Read more…]

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Clean Energy Council report throws down the gauntlet to lawmakers

May 8, 2016 2017-10-25T08:25:52 by Leave a Comment
power shift CEC report

The Clean Energy Council have released a good report outlining the policy steps needed to transition to clean energy. But will anybody read it?

A Clean Energy Council report released last week makes for intriguing reading folks.

Building on the recent Paris agreements, where countries agreed to limit carbon emissions to limit global warming to 2 degrees or below, the study challenges our leaders to think seriously about how to carry out such a plan. [Read more…]

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Perovskite solar cells in commercial production just around the corner says report

May 2, 2016 2024-10-04T07:02:13 by 1 Comment
Perovskite

An unassuming lump of perovskite. “The fastest improving solar cell technology there has ever been.”

We’ve previously covered the novelty of perovskites as a potential game changer for solar cell cost and efficiency, and also asked why, with such a name, they haven’t as yet debuted in the latest James Bond blockbuster. But perovskite solar cells in commercial production as the “Next Big Thing” in solar cell technology? Surely that’s a long, long way off? [Read more…]

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Think tank predicts end of fossil fuel in a decade

April 26, 2016 2017-10-25T08:26:24 by 9 Comments
renewables-in-10

No fossil fuels from 2026?

Most supporters of the clean energy revolution have never wavered in their belief that renewables will be the dominant energy source of the future. The only question is how long before we wean ourselves off fossil fuels.

Now a think tank based in the United Kingdom has had a stab at answering this $64 question by predicting that fossil fuels could be phased out almost completely over the next decade.

The Sussex Energy Group, based at the University of Sussex, has said that a co-ordinated effort could see the switch to clean energy brought in much earlier than previously thought. [Read more…]

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All-weather graphene solar panels will generate energy from rain

April 10, 2016 2017-10-25T08:26:51 by 2 Comments

solar array in the rainThe performance of solar cells is often determined by the range of weather conditions. However a breakthrough by Chinese scientists has brought closer the practicality of solar cells being able to generate energy during… wait for it… both sunny and rainy days. [Read more…]

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Sonnen battery storage enters the Oz market, company announces peer-to-peer trading

April 4, 2016 2017-10-25T09:24:33 by 12 Comments
sonnen-battery-storage

A Sonnen Battery Storage Unit. Photo: sonnen GmbH

The surge of popularity of solar and storage in Oz has triggered a battery storage invasion as companies are keen to test our country as an ideal market. The most recent of these announcements comes from German clean energy company Sonnen.  [Read more…]

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What’s Turnbull and Hunt up to on renewable energy financing?

March 29, 2016 2017-10-25T09:24:48 by 2 Comments
hunt and turnbull

Malcom & Greg rip millions from renewables research whilst claiming the opposite. Sigh.

The government’s re-shaping of renewable energy financing during the week has drawn quite a few responses in the media. Some applaud the allocation of $1 billion for renewables, however most of them have accused the PM and the Minister of the Environment Greg Hunt of duplicity and blatant vote-buying in an election year. [Read more…]

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Global CO2 Emissions Stall, Economy Grows, Thanks To Renewables

March 22, 2016 2017-10-25T09:25:03 by 1 Comment
power station with solar

The massive deployment of renewables has helped global CO2 emissions fall.

Interesting news from two separate studies from different agencies this week folks. The first — from the International Energy Agency (IEA) — found that carbon emissions have stalled worldwide for the second year in a row. The second, from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), outlined the associated benefits of doubling the share of renewables in the world energy mix. [Read more…]

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SolarWorld launches bifacial solar panels in US

March 13, 2016 2017-10-25T09:25:17 by 9 Comments
solar world

A SolarWorld worker in the USA inspects a bifacial solar panel. Pic: SolarWorld

German and US based manufacturer of top quality solar panels, Solar World AG launched their new bifacial solar modules in late 2015 at the industry trade show Solar Power International. However it was this month’s announcement of the first rollout of the new SolarWorld solar panels in the United States that has set tongues wagging. [Read more…]

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