Trillions will be invested in renewables up to 2040
The way humans go about getting their electricity is set to change forever, according to an influential report by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The New Energy Outlook 2015 (NEO) study, which was handed down last week, also found that solar energy would be at the vanguard of the change towards a more renewable future. [Read more…]
Solar is going to smash the oil industry
When the Saudi oil minister says his country will switch to solar you know the jig is up for fossil fuels. Such a defining moment occurred in Paris this week when Reuters, the Financial Times and The Guardian all reported Minister Ali Al-Naimi as admitting the days of oil exports in his country were limited.
The comments were delivered to attendees of a climate and business conference where Naimi outlined a new direction for Saudi Arabian exports.
“In Saudi Arabia, we recognise that eventually, one of these days, we are not going to need fossil fuels, I don’t know when, in 2040, 2050… so we have embarked on a program to develop solar energy,” Ali Al-Naimi told the conference.
“Hopefully, one of these days, instead of exporting fossil fuels, we will be exporting gigawatts, electric ones,” he added.
Small business can get a tax break on installing solar. Thanks Mr Hockey!
The Treasurer’s annual allocating of the shekels has come and gone and renewable energy fans are asking about solar energy in the Budget. How did we fare? Were we the subject of further cutbacks, maulings and downgradings as part of this federal government’s campaign against all things renewable?
Well yes and no is the best answer. [Read more…]
Batteries are getting 15% cheaper every year.
More evidence emerged this week of the imminent arrival of the solar storage revolution. First was a report by the Deutsche Bank, the latest to predict that solar will become the dominant energy source by 2050, displacing other traditional energy such as fossil fuels.
“Over the next 20 years, we expect the electricity market to double to $US4 trillion and expect the solar industry to increase by a factor of 10. During this timeframe, the solar industry is expected to generate $5 trillion of cumulative revenue,” said the report.
Government backed CEFC has joined forces with ET Solar Panels to power large Aussie businesses.
What do ET Solar Australia and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) have up their sleeves to promote ET solar panels for large commercial businesses in our country?
There’s more than one way to skin a cat. And more than one model for financing solar energy. This was amply demonstrated last week with the release of the CEFC’s plan to stump up $20 million with the solar energy provider ET Solar in a new innovative partnership that has proved radically successful in overseas countries. [Read more…]
When we look at the year ahead for renewable energy, and try to divine the development of the Australian solar market, one of the first conclusions is the importance of neighbouring countries. I’m talking here of the continued role China plays in solar energy in Australia.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that cheap, quality solar panels from China have driven the domestic demand for solar panels in Australia. Despite wide open spaces for solar farms and abundant sun, Australia is lagging behind the rest of the world in renewable energy. We haven’t taken our rightful position as one of the leaders in the world in developing large scale renewable energy as we should. [Read more…]
Unsubsidised solar is cheaper than coal in Chile. Australia here we come!
One of the key questions that remains in what has been a forgettable year for Australian renewable energy policy development is: when will unsubsidised solar reach cost parity with fossil fuels? Will it be in 2015 or 2016 that this occurs? Or should we look further into the future? The question is of course crucial as reaching this point in time will sweep away any criticism from the fossil fuel argument that coal, oil is cheaper to produce than renewable energy such as solar power.
If you listen to fossil fuel lobbyists you’ll get the impressions that cost parity is decades away, however the truth is that it is already here in some parts of the world. [Read more…]
Can the word produce solar panel materials fast enough to keep up with demand?
It’s now almost a given that solar energy is the answer for the world’s energy problems. As experts have noted, it is entirely conceivable (perhaps inevitable) that solar will be the world’s first choice for energy by mid-century. With regular improvements in PV technology driving cost and efficiency breakthroughs, the predictions of the amount of total energy solar will make up is constantly being revised upwards.
Even those countries with a somewhat less than supportive legislative framework for renewables (any guesses?) are seeing solar growth cycles. As discussed last week, in these cases its a matter of the politicians lagging well behind the people on this vital issue of our times.
Down, down, solar panel prices are going down!
When someone of the stature of Martin Green says the cost of solar PV technology will halve again by the next decade, you sit up and take notice. Even more so when he says solar will be the world’s most popular energy source by 2050.
For the University of New South Wales’ Prof. Martin Green is considered one of the world’s leading PV researchers. His department’s technological breakthroughs in silicon cell efficiency have not only given us the solar panels we know today but also put Australian PV research at the centre of world PV technology.
“The costs of solar will halve again by 2025 is my prediction,” he told a conference in Sydney on Wednesday. “We are at 60 cents per watt manufacturing now but we will get down to 30 cents per watt some time before 2025.”
The declining cost of solar is making Aussie coal exports look increasingly expensive.
Not-so-strange bedfellows Greg “Smiley” Hunt and Big Clive emerged hand in hand after negotiating the “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” (sorry “Direct Action”) legislation earlier this week. Meanwhile a less publicised news article revealed the dirty truth behind the future, or otherwise, of fossil fuel exports to one of our major markets.
That truth is that it is now more expensive for India to import Aussie coal than produce their own solar power. [Read more…]
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