Solar

There is a lot of talk about the ability of battery storage to take households and businesses off the grid. But how do the numbers for battery storage stack up for the majority that will remain connected to the grid?

When a neighbour refused to allow a power pole to be erected on their land, Helmut and Sue Woerner were unable to connect their rural property to the grid. But, with a bit of persistence and a lot of innovation, the couple were able to enjoy their country paradise with more than enough power.

In Australia more than 1.4 million households have rooftop solar panels, with double digit growth every year. In Perth one in five homes have solar power. Combined they equate to the biggest source of power generation in the state. The problem is solar power is only available when the sun is shining.

Gone are the days when monitoring consisted of a simple hourly graph showing how much energy your solar system is generating, leaving you to work out what the information meant.

Photographer Ralph Alphonso had planned to turn a small inner city property space - just 5 metres by 4 metres - next to his inner city photographic studio in east Melbourne into a car port with a roof. Instead, after prompting from his father, he came up with a better idea.

With the energy requirements for a cremator, small cool room, air conditioners, mortuary and processing equipment all being run from a battery bank, the environmentally conscious can now protect the planet even after death.

Aldi becomes latest retail chain to begin installing rooftop solar, as commercial solar market shows signs of maturity in Australia.

After a horror couple of months, SunEdison launches onto Australian market with exclusive offer of low-cost, high efficiency solar panel.

Blueprint for NSW town of Uralla says getting to majority renewables can be relatively easy, and save a lot of money. Getting to 100% renewables, however, will be harder. But it seems lots of towns want to try.

In Part 3 of this Tesla's 9,000kms odyssey through Queensland, without a super-charging network, we learn how the car plugged into the only wind farm in the state.

The northern NSW town of Tyalgum is considering a proposal to go 100 per cent renewable and to possibly quit the grid altogether, in what would be the first such move by a township in Australia.

WA grid operator Western Power wants to take up to 10 small communities off-grid, to save costs on grid upgrades and extensions. More could follow.

Enova extends share offer for community retailer after prospectus raises more than $1.1 million.

The largest straw-bale home in the southern hemisphere has solar hydronic heating and excellent acoustics - a great asset for people in the audio and music business.

California to move government buildings to 100% renewable energy across the state.

Stockland contemplates another three MW-scale rooftop solar arrays on its shopping centres, including what could be the largest array on an Australian car-park facility.