Perth council to seek mandate on renewable energy for new homes
A Perth council is hoping to radically alter its planning scheme to require new homes to have their own energy supply. Nedlands council, which covers some of Perth’s wealthiest suburbs, will apply to the WA Planning Commission to alter their planning scheme to require installation of onsite power generations, such as solar panels or wind […]
Printable solar panels, one step closer to market
Australian solar power scientists are one step closer to making available a cheaper and faster way to print solar cells onto plastic.
CSIRO’s senior research scientist Dr Fiona Scholes said the technology was almost at the commercialisation stage and could be used to power laptops to rooftops.
Source: ABC News
Solar experts say Australian renewable energy investment being stifled by Government policy
One of the world’s most advanced solar power companies has shelved plans to develop electricity plants for the public market in Australia because of the Government’s apparent hostility to renewable energy.
Solar Reserve, based in Santa Monica, California, has pioneered a technology that combines mass-scale solar power generation with storage, allowing energy from the sun to […]
Technology, not regulation, will kill coal fired power
British banking giant Barclays downgraded the entire electricity-generating sector of the US high-grade corporate bond market because of the challenges posed by renewables and the fact that the market isn’t pricing in those challenges.
The thesis from the Barclays credit team is that it’s not so much regulations that will choke off coal burning, but technological […]
Go west in bid to cut power bills
Tens of thousands of households are being urged to put solar panels on the western side of their homes in a bid to cut power bills and rein in rampantly expensive peak-energy capacity.
With solar uptake rates in Perth running at about 2000 households a month, Energy Minister Mike Nahan said it no longer made economic […]
Bill shock for WA businesses
Up to 21,000 WA businesses face a surprise 10 per cent power price hike from next month, in part because a surge in solar panels has reduced electricity demand and forced Western Power to lift its tariffs to claw back a slump in revenue.
However, the hit could have been worse, with the State’s economic watchdog […]
Clean energy investment back on target
Clean energy investors have been given a boost today as the Federal Government closed the book on another review of the Renewable Energy Target, again concluding that the scheme is highly effective in driving the transition of the Australian energy sector at very low cost to consumers.
Clean Energy Council Deputy Chief Executive Kane Thornton said […]
Australia joins US in $83m solar research plan
The Federal Government has announced an $83 million solar research program in partnership with the United States.
The eight-year project will bring together six Australian universities, the CSIRO and the US department of energy.
Its aim is to create new technology that will reduce the cost of solar power.
Source: ABC News
Combet cuts support for solar
Climate Change Minister Greg Combet announced late this morning that the government will be phasing out the solar credits multiplier of 2 STCs per megawatt-hour to just one six months ahead of schedule on January 1, 2013.
Currently STCs are trading at around $32. With the current multiplier of 2, for a 1.5 kW system in […]
Power firm Synergy holds out on carbon tax
ENERGY company Synergy is pocketing millions of bonus carbon tax dollars by holding on to the money collected from West Australians for up to a year before handing it over to the Federal Government.
The monopoly electricity retailer already has collected $68 million from households and businesses and will raise an estimated further $150 million […]