1. Home hydrogen storage for rooftop solar? UNSW team says it’s coming in 2020
The UNSW said on Tuesday that they would create a home hydrogen storage prototype to compete with – and even outperform – current home battery systems, like the Tesla Powerwall.
2. Conduct code to weed out dodgy solar panel retailers
Solar panel retailers will have to sign up to a code of conduct to prevent dodgy operators joining a state government scheme to provide panels to 700,000 households.
3. Solar PV and batteries to provide 24-hour power for Santos oil pumps
Santos’s Cooper Basin oil production is set to be transformed by a trial using solar PV and a CSIRO-developed hybrid battery to replace diesel generators powering the pumps that deliver oil from underground 24/7.
4. Australia has enough solar, wind storage in pipeline to go 100% renewables
Research says that if Australia continued at its current rate of wind and solar deployment, then enough to meet the equivalent of 100 per cent of the country’s electricity needs could be delivered by 2030.
5. Australian first climate bond gives investors new access to solar and storage market
Australian first climate bond gives investors access to new ways to invest in solar and storage. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has contributed $10 million towards the latest of FlexiGroup’s green bond issuances.
6. Australia starts producing solar powered signals intelligence
A 1.2 MW solar array has been powered up at the Satellite Communications Station (ADSCS) in Western Australia. The array aims to take pressure off the region’s ageing power grid.
7. Thermal Battery Unveiled In South Australia
Adelaide company CCT Energy Storage has unveiled its Thermal Battery. This device can accept any form of electrical input – including from wind and solar power – and convert and store this energy as heat using molten silicon as the storage medium.
8. Making metals with renewable energy
Element 25 obtained funding for a project that could potentially pave the way for new opportunities for renewable energy integration into the metals processing and potentially open up export markets.