Solar Council welcomes RET review
22 March, 2013The Australian Solar Council has welcomed the government’s response to the Review of the Renewable Energy Target, calling it a significant boost to investor confidence and certainty.
Overestimating wind power
14 March, 2013The latest research in mesoscale atmospheric modelling, published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, suggests that the generating capacity of large-scale wind farms has been overestimated.
Clean and green
11 March, 2013 by Dannielle FurnessAs we veer away from a reliance on fossil fuels in a quest to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, renewable energy is moving to the forefront. For all the benefits that renewable sources provide, the move to clean and green is not as easy as you would think.
UQ helps plan future power
07 March, 2013The University of Queensland will share a $3.3 million CSIRO grant to investigate the most economically efficient energy network for Australia’s future. Professor John Foster and Dr Liam Wagner from UQ School of Economics Energy Economics and Management Group will collaborate with the University of Sydney, University of Newcastle and University of NSW on a three-year project to provide a suite of tools and models to plan and manage the future grid.
Construction to begin on WA wave energy project
06 March, 2013Construction of the Perth Wave Energy Project is due to begin next month. Located at Garden Island, the project will start delivering green energy to the grid in 2014.
Now is the time to power up consumers on energy use
01 March, 2013Australia now has the opportunity to make transformative changes to our electricity market to put power in the hands of consumers and businesses, according to the Chief Executive of Australia’s peak clean energy industry body, Clean Energy Council.
Forecasting technology to boost solar energy
27 February, 2013NCAR is spearheading a project to develop technology that gives 36-hour forecasts of incoming solar energy that could eliminate guesswork for solar power plants.
Perth established as one of world’s top five geothermal cities
25 February, 2013Securing funding for one of Australia’s largest geothermal projects and establishing Perth as one of the world’s top five ‘geothermal cities’ were celebrated as some of the major achievements of the Western Australian Geothermal Centre of Excellence (WAGCOE) at its conclusion last week.
EPA busts wind farm myth
13 February, 2013The myth of the noisy wind farm has finally been put to rest, with the South Australian EPA releasing a report showing that wind turbines produce less infrasound than air conditioners and traffic.
Driving clean energy innovation
08 February, 2013The city of Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, has partnered with Schneider Electric and Fort Collins-based Spirae Inc to roll out the area’s first electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. As part of their innovative FortZED (Zero Energy District) project, the city is phasing in EVlink charging stations for installation at the city’s fleet lot, select public parking facilities and private business parking lots.
School installs 60 kW solar PV system
08 January, 2013Autonomous Energy has designed, installed and commissioned a 60 kW Solar PV system at Pymble Ladies’ College. The system was installed in two phases, the first phase (16 kW) was commissioned in July 2011 and the second phase (60 kW) went live in February 2012.
Managing solar for remote communities
08 January, 2013Some Australian electric utilities operate a substantial number of diesel-fuelled power stations for remote communities that are too distant to connect to the main electricity grids. These communities can include hundreds of residents, along with local commercial activities and civil infrastructure to support the region. The wet season can make it difficult to access some communities by road for up to 1-2 months. Photovoltaic (PV) power generation has been identified as the most consistent source of renewable power to cover the daily power consumption profile of these communities.
World's first electricity-generating fabric developed
21 December, 2012The world’s first electricity-generating fabric has been developed by Japan’s solar company Sphelar Power Corporation and the textile industry R&D hub, the Industrial Technology Centre of Fukui Prefecture.
Low Carbon Australia project provides efficiency boost
19 December, 2012Low Carbon Australia is financing an $11 million pilot energy-generation project at Traralgon in Victoria that demonstrates the potential for power security across Australia’s eastern seaboard.
Australia-US partnership to develop next-generation solar cell technology
14 December, 2012A new joint Australian-US research institute led by the University of New South Wales(UNSW) will foster rapid development of ‘over the horizon’ photovoltaic technology and establish Australia as the solar cell research and education hub of the Asia-Pacific region.
