Home solar battery revolution an economic and emissions game changer

David Ellery   The emergence of affordable home batteries that can be hooked up to solar electricity systems will make coal fired power stations obsolete users have said.

US town rejects solar farm after sunlight, cancer fears

Michael Koziol   World leaders may have committed to ambitious climate targets in Paris at the weekend, but that in small-town America, all that solar hocus pocus is still viewed with a healthy dose of slack-jawed cynicism.

ActewAGL partners with Panasonic in the solar power revolution

David Ellery   ActewAGL teams up with Panasonic for the next step in the solar power revolution.

Clover Moore tells Paris that government needs to get out of the way

Peter Hannam   While the prognosis can be apocalyptic for some, cities such as Sydney say they are making inroads on cutting emissions - and could do more given more leeway.

Savings add up for household solar

David Potts   Solar panels are landing on rooftops just as the Hills Hoist invaded backyards. If you're not solar-powered, you're not with it.

Abbott government's 'blue tape' costs consumers billions, report finds

Peter Hannam   A drop in energy use by Australians has slashed billions of dollars from energy bills since 2010, but those savings are threatened by policies by the Abbott government and some conservative state governments, a report by The Australia Institute finds.

French renewables power grid pilot reveals limits of batteries in Europe

​A major pilot project by Europe's largest power network operator to integrate power from rooftop solar panels into the grid has shown that battery storage of renewable energy is not yet economically viable in Europe.

Renewable energy target slashed in bipartisan deal

Elise Scott   A bipartisan deal - agreed to last month after a lengthy political stalemate that hamstrung the clean energy sector - will slash the renewable energy target from 41,000 gigawatt hours to 33,000.

Green utopia: Lord Howe island shows the mainland how it's done

Nicole Hasham   Residents of Lord Howe Island have gone dirty on diesel and now have an ambitious target for renewable energy.

Tesla home battery 'a wake up call' for Australia

Lucy Cormack   The company's new battery that charges using electricity generated from solar panels will cost half what analysts expected.

Oil downturn slows progress in bringing solar power to mines

James Paton   High oil prices spurred mining companies to look at renewable energy to cut their diesel fuel bills. With crude plunging, it's a different story today.

Eclipse switching off solar panels to test Europe's power grids

The eclipse due to bring most of Europe into deep shadows on Friday morning will put an unprecedented strain on the region's electricity grid, turning off thousands of solar panels essential to power supply and rocking electricity markets. The moon will cross in front of the sun, blocking about 80 per cent of its light across Europe from 8 am to 11 am London time. In Germany, the eclipse will briefly turn off thousands of panels, which provide about 40 per cent of the nation's power on the most sunny days.

Solar industry gets $33.3m boost to fuel commercial take-up

Peter Hannam   The flagging Australian solar industry will get a $33.3 million boost as the government's green investment bank combines with a Chinese partner to spur companies to take up more photovoltaic panels.

Fuelling hope: Vitol finds a future in Australian refining

Peter Ker   Newcomer Viva Energy believes a local focus and more niche products can see Australian oil refineries withstand the pressure from foreign competitors

Solar power holds its own as clouds gather

Peter Hannam   Australia’s small-scale solar energy industry held steady in 2014 although uncertainty about the Abbott government’s support for renewable energy and rising costs for imported panels as the dollar wilts are casting a cloud over the sector.

Coalminers returning to profitability, but for how long?

Peter Ker   The cost of producing coal in Australia has fallen sharply in recent months, but views are mixed over whether prices will improve in 2015.

Energy

Shareholders strike out at remuneration as commodity boom fades

Peter Ker   Shareholders say remuneration is out of sync with sliding commodity prices.

Soaring gas prices spur expansion of energy savings plan

Peter Hannam   Soaring gas prices have prompted the NSW government to expand its energy efficiency support program to include gas as well as electricity.

Energy efficiency in buildings to lead Australia's G20 climate response

Peter Hannam   Climate change remains all but absent from the G20 summit, with a related energy efficiency plan omitting mention of global warming as a motivation for curbing energy use, according to a draft of the plan.

UNSW smashes electric vehicle speed record

Peter Hannam   A team of undergraduate engineering students at the University of NSW has smashed the world speed record for electric vehicles, with their Sunswift car averaging more than 100 km/h over 500 km on a single battery charge.

Insulation report finding on fires cheers battling industry

Peter Hannam   Confirmation by the Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program that the rate of house fires did not increase despite a more than 10-fold jump in installations has been welcomed by companies struggling to recover from the industry's boom and subsequent bust.

Canberra will consider its own rooftop solar scheme, says Corbell

Kirsten Lawson   ACT Environment Minister Simon Corbell has condemned the Warburton report as ''dangerously radical and extremist''.

Canberrans ignorant of potential power savings

Markus Mannheim   Competition between power companies is not helping Canberrans, many of whom believe they must buy from ActewAGL.

Solar giant to close Australian R&D; unit

Peter Hannam   A giant Chinese solar panel maker originally based on Australian technology plans to close its local research arm amid on-going concerns about the future of renewable energy in the country.

Time for NSW to end California dreaming on renewables, Labor says

Peter Hannam   NSW is barely one-third of the way to achieving its 2020 renewable energy goal despite the Baird Government wanting the state to be Australia's answer to California.

Solar research facility to open at UQ Gatton

Cameron Atfield   Queensland researchers hope to demonstrate the true power of the 'Sunshine State' when a new solar research facility opens at Gatton next year.

Comments 12

Uncertainty takes wind out of Capital II funding

Matthew Raggatt   Its been approved since 2011, but Australia's largest wind farm developer has said there is no guarantee dirt will ever be turned on its 41-turbine project near Bungendore.

False dawn for solar giant?

Peter Hannam   Australians considering putting solar photovoltaic (PV) panels on their roofs might want to get a hurry-on.

Carbon price helped curb emissions, ANU study finds

Peter Hannam   Australia cut carbon dioxide emissions from its electricity sector by as much as 17 million tonnes because of the carbon price and would have curbed more had industry expected the price to be permanent, according to an Australian National University study.