Solar

Victorian government launches guide to help community groups make informed decisions about establishing renewable energy projects, including wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, bioenergy and energy storage technologies.

A council backed bulk solar scheme in inner Melbourne is offering 300 discounted rooftop solar systems, and the option for battery storage, to local homes and businesses.

Sydney Hindu community group installs 26kW solar system on temple in the city's west, and plans to add more panels and battery storage in future.

AGL launches two new residential battery offerings from Sunverge aimed at households who are large energy consumers and have between 4-5kW of rooftop solar.

North American asset management giant Brookfield and its utility offshoot look to use solar and storage to remove need for new housing developments to connect to the grid. First stop: the Hunter Valley.

After a trial that cut its electricity use by 70%, St Vincent de Paul has installed a 25kW solar system on its regional HQ and Vinnies shop in Lismore, NSW.

Two young brothers use song and dance, and a YouTube video, to support fundraising campaign for a solar system that would power classrooms.

Kraftwerke provide commercial energy customers with the opportunity to buy and sell their electricity, allowing them to benefit from the price fluctuations in the energy spot market.

Electricity wholesaler L&H Group is to install 1.1MW of rooftop solar across its network as part of an alliance with clean energy retailing subsidiary Go Energy.

NSW community solar group Pingala has won $40,000 from City of Sydney towards its first project, to install rooftop solar at local brewery in city’s inner west.

Gosford City Council has decided to install 435kW of rooftop solar on seven council facilities in a move it says should save it more than $80,000 a year in electricity costs.

New company - chaired by Ross Garnaut - will provide Australian consumers with an option to use 100 per cent renewable energy to power their homes, businesses or entire communities, at a cost cheaper than electricity from the grid.

BürgerWerke is an innovative energy retailer start-up aiming to ‘close-the-loop’ on citizen energy in Germany. Chris Cooper pays them a visit in Heidelberg.

Consumers are being caught unawares by tariff changes that could change the economics of rooftop solar. Networks are introducing demand tariffs that could halve the rate of solar installations. It means that in some cases, adding solar could result in a higher bill overall.

Schönau. Village of 2500 inhabitants in the Black Forest. A beautiful remote alpine village that bought back its grid and has been leading the energy revolution.

You’d think having a bunch of people you’ve never met before in your living room would be disconcerting. But when you’re with like-minded people, even strangers become friends very quickly. Emma Sutcliffe describes her experiences opening her sustainable house to the public.