Australia

Plus a bunch of investments in carbon capture.

With the average lifespan of a solar panel at roughly 20 years, installations from the early 2000s are set to reach end-of-life. Will they end up in landfill or be recycled? The cost of recycling is higher than landfill, and the value of recovered materials is smaller than the original, so there’s limited interest in recycling. But given the presence of heavy metals, if waste is managed poorly, we’re on track for another recycling crisis.

The University of Queensland has released a performance report on the Tesla Powerpack it installed in December 2019. Across a range of revenue streams, the Powerpack is already earning the university some serious cash.

The world’s biggest battery is now rated at 150 MW/193.5 MWh and dwarfs any lithium-ion battery system in operation worldwide.

The lure of building integrated photovoltaics continues to attract entrepreneurs and startups.

Byron Bay-based solar retailer Smart Energy says it is seeing an unprecedented surge in sales and inquiries for solar and home energy storage as consumers look to shore themselves up in uncertain times.

The state government has partnered with the German energy storage company to offer 188 families locally assembled sonnenBatteries as they rebuild their homes.

Total acquired 50% of India’s Adani Group’s solar portfolio for $510m and Shell is building its first large-scale solar farm, a 120-MW effort in Australia.

Jigar Shah, renewable energy legend, strikes again. Generate added Sunrun CEO Lynn Jurich and NYSERDA’s Richard Kauffman to its board.

While trackers for solar panels might seem a bit mundane, once you stumble into CEO Dan Shugar’s reality distortion field, trackers become kind of sexy.