SolarQuotes Blog

New community owned energy retailer, Northern Rivers Energy, impresses with vision

October 9, 2014 2017-10-25T09:59:41 by 3 Comments
community solar

Fans of community energy got a boost this week with news of plans to launch the country’s first community owned energy retailer. Based in the Northern Rivers region of NSW, a consortium of citizens under the name of Northern Rivers Energy (NRE) has “…won a $54,000 grant to develop a business plan and conduct a […]

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Big end of town bails out of coal

September 29, 2014 2017-10-25T09:59:59 by 10 Comments
coal cash and solar

Ever considered the consequences of mega coal companies investing in solar power? This week news came through of the world’s largest coal miner — Coal India Limited — pumping a cool $1.2 billion into the development of 1,000MW solar plants in the country. Under huge pressure to source their energy in a more environmentally friendly […]

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

September 22, 2014 2017-10-25T10:00:11 by 4 Comments

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!”.

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Focus shifts to solar power in developing countries

September 16, 2014 2017-10-25T10:00:19 by 5 Comments
solar in south africa

Industrialised countries have seen an explosion in renewable energy in recent years but are developing countries proceeding at the same rate? An announcement this week by Norfund — the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries — has highlighted the role that renewables play in the developing world. Indeed renewables like solar power in developing countries looks […]

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Royalla solar farm shows states, territories need to step up on renewables

September 9, 2014 2017-10-25T10:00:28 by 8 Comments

We had a mini solar energy revolution in Australia this week: the opening of Australia’s largest solar farm at Royalla, near Canberra. Funded by Spanish renewable energy giant Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, the 20 megawatt solar farm is monstrous by Australian standards. Comprised of 83,000 solar panels — which will be enough to power 4,500 homes […]

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Solar technology revolution coming: UBS

September 2, 2014 2017-10-25T10:00:39 by 8 Comments
fist in air and solar panels

The dominant role that renewables — particularly solar — will play in the future of our energy consumption seems to have finally sunk in at the Big End of Town. In Europe at least. A recent report from financial giant UBS of Zurich is predicting nothing less than a solar technology revolution. The hard-hitting briefing […]

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Is midday the new off peak – thanks to solar?

August 27, 2014 2019-04-15T14:50:07 by 4 Comments
pylons

I was at home on a cloudy Saturday morning in Adelaide last week, performing some much needed repairs on my puppets in between refreshing my knowledge of chemistry. (Apparently everything is still made of atoms.) Then I noticed through a crack in the wall that the sun had come out and I opened the electrically […]

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Is Greg Hunt running scared?

August 25, 2014 2017-10-25T10:00:49 by 7 Comments
whiteboard with angey face

Ever noticed how shrill Environment Minister Greg Hunt is getting these days readers? The man once considered the smiling face of the Abbott’s administration’s policy of dismantling of renewable energy appears to have lost all control in recent weeks. I refer of course to Gregory’s extraordinary attack on John Grimes, the head of the Australian […]

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The Solar Council Aren’t Lying. Your Government Is.

August 22, 2014 2019-04-15T14:38:41 by 9 Comments

The government has painted a big bullseye on solar power. They’ve got it in their sights. They want the renewable energy target (RET) repealed and they’ll do just about anything to make that happen. Well, anything but come right out and say, “We’re against renewable energy because because we want to protect the fat wallets of […]

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Solar breakthroughs by the dozen but what of the future?

August 19, 2014 2017-10-25T10:01:08 by 12 Comments
idea rocket

This week two news items have proved that innovation in the solar energy sector is not only alive and humming but well on the way to shaping our energy future. The first is based on nothing new. Indeed it was originally proposed in a 1941 story by science fiction author Isaac Asimov. With climate change […]

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