Solar Trust Centre | Solar and Renewable Energy News

This Week in Solar: The growing demand for solar

Written by Solar Trust Centre Team | Sep 7, 2020 9:29:00 AM

1. Solar System Maintenance and Repairs

Proper maintenance helps to keep your solar panels working safely and efficiently. It reduces system downtime while minimising repair costs. Clean, well-maintained equipment also cuts electric bills, decreases your environmental impact and enhances the appearance of your home.

Read our recent blog post on what you need to know.

2. Australia’s first large scale solar garden – city dwellers of the world, unite!

Almost a third of Australians are locked behind the solar barrier, they’re renters, tenants, urban apartment-dwellers who don’t have the luxury of installing their own solar PV. However, now city-dwellers can participate in the solar transition too, by becoming members of the Haystacks Solar Garden which operates in much the same way as community garden.

3. GE-branded solar inverters will be available in the Australian market beginning in September

“A real game changer.” John Grimes, Smart Energy Council.

The journey will start in Australia and will see the first products on the market this year, with more countries expected to join the list in 2021 and beyond. There is untapped potential in the Australian solar industry; in 2018, solar energy accounted for just over 5 per cent of Australia’s total power generation despite it having the world’s highest average solar radiation of about 58 million petajoules of energy, or about 10,000 times the nation’s annual energy consumption. 

4. Tesla battery in South Australia expanded by 50 per cent, energy minister lauds benefits

A 50 per cent expansion of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery in South Australia is now fully operational, increasing its potential output by 50 megawatts.

After weeks of testing, the Tesla battery at Hornsdale, near Jamestown in the state’s mid-north, is now capable of delivering 150 megawatts, or 189 megawatt hours.

5. Solar River solar and battery project still confident, despite loss of Alinta contract

One of the biggest solar and battery storage projects planned for Australia, the Solar River facility in South Australia, says it is still confident of reaching financial close despite the loss of a long term contract with utility Alinta Energy.

6. Repositioning Australian rooftop PV

A University of South Australia study has shown that solar owners selling electricity to the grid should position their panels to minimize the discrepancy between peak use and peak production.

7. Forget 7-star luxury, Adelaide is now home to a 10-star sustainable home

South Australia’s first ten-star home was completed last month, a home that consumes twenty times less energy than the average Australian household, in part thanks to its Firmer React 2 solar hybrid system.

8. BHP turns to wind and solar to help power Queensland coal mines


Global mining giant BHP has signed a five year contract that will see it source wind and solar to deliver up to half of the power needs for its coal mining operations in Queensland.