New housing estates in Australia may be built without a connection to the main grid, offering instead free electricity – and even free electric vehicles – to residents. Meanwhile, numerous towns are looking to buy back their grid from networks. Welcome to the new world of micro-grids.
91-year-old medical entrepreneur installs largest solar and battery storage array for an off-grid home. Hawaii and Australia seen as biggest off-grid markets.
Panasonic targets Australia as first global market for battery storage, in deal with 3 utilities to trial 8kWh system. It says storage will double self consumption of solar households, but it intends to sell product through networks and retailers, challenging their business models.
SA network operator dares to go where Qld and WA governments feared to tread – higher network charges for solar households. The network justifies this by changing demand profiles, but will also look to shift hot water and pool pump use to daytime to make up for lost demand caused by PV production.
Tesla's lithium-ion technology isn’t the only battery on offer. Here's a quick survey of current battery technologies, and some that are in development.
Canadian Solar, one of the big three solar manufacturers, says solar PV costs to fall 25% in three years as module efficiencies improve.
SolarShare is seeking approval from ACT govt to build a 1MW community-owned solar farm in Canberra's Maruja Valley, alongside a commercial PV plant.
Sydney group launches $20 million solar fund that will provide Power Purchase Agreement finance for small and medium enterprises, for systems up to 100kW.
Five graphs that show why battery storage will appeal to Australian households, and will damage the bottom line of Australian utilities.
Morgan Stanley says battery storage market could be worth $24bn, with half of all homes interested. It says Tesla Powerwall will deliver paybacks of 6 years or less in some states, and that is bad news for major utilities, whose earnings will be impacted.
City of Wanneroo calls for tenders to build a large-scale solar farm in Perth's northern suburbs after rejecting fossil fuel alternatives.
The tax break offered by the Abbott government to "Tony's Tradies" could see big lift in rooftops solar installations. This comes as Bloomberg New Energy Finance says it will lift its forecast PV installations in Australia. It imagines every available building to have solar by 2030.
Tyrrell's Wines to host one of Australia’s first commercial solar power purchase projects, with installation of 350kW PV system at Hunter Valley vineyard.
Just as important as how cheap batteries are getting is another crucial question: how much battery do you need?
So, what does Tesla's battery storage offering, the Powerwall, mean for consumers. We include a unique online calculator to help you find out. On average, however, solar only continues to offer best value. But the grid only option comes last.
Sydney storm has made us realise how much we rely on electricity for so many things and how much we take it for granted.
