Category Archives: Solar power

Biden marks Earth Day with $7bn ‘solar for all’ investment amid week of climate action

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Funds will be targeted at disadvantaged areas to create 200,000 jobs, after last week’s oil and gas lease restrictions in Alaska

Joe Biden marked Monday’s Earth Day by announcing a $7bn investment in solar energy projects nationwide, focusing on disadvantaged communities, and unveiling a week-long series of what the White House say will be “historic climate actions”.

The president was speaking at Prince William Forest Park, in Triangle, Virginia, touting his environmental record and unveiling measures to tackle the climate crisis and increase access to, and lower costs of, clean energy.

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Tory candidate for London mayor has Trumpian attitude to climate, says Khan

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London mayor expected to criticise Susan Hall in speech launching panels on school roofs

Sadiq Khan will accuse his Conservative rival in the race to be London’s next mayor of being “Trumpian” over the climate crisis, as he announces plans for solar panels on schools.

Khan is expected to acknowledge resistance to his expansion of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) in a speech on Friday but insist that he still intends to “go further”.

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Solar panel waste to reach crisis levels in next two to three years, Australian experts warn

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A 12-year industry roadmap has been unveiled to address the rising amount of solar panel waste headed for the tip

The solar industry is quickly approaching its tipping point, with unprecedented levels of waste headed for the tip.

Solar panel waste levels will reach a crisis point in the next two to three years instead of by 2030, as was previously forecast, according to a white paper released this week.

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World’s largest solar manufacturer to cut one-third of workforce

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China’s Longi looks to slash costs as renewable energy sector faces tough headwinds from inflation

The world’s largest solar manufacturer has slashed nearly a third of its workforce after a cost-cutting drive that included telling staff to only print in black and white fell short and as a chill ripples through the renewable energy sector.

China’s Longi is to cut as much as 30% of its workforce, in an acceleration of cost reductions that began late last year, Bloomberg reported.

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Landlords should reveal homes’ energy efficiency to help Australia’s renters cut power bills, advocates say

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Acoss report says $2bn federal fund and coordinated policies would reduce costs, protect against heat-related illness and reduce emissions

Governments should require landlords to reveal the energy performance of homes put up for sale or lease as part of a policy blitz aimed at helping low-income households cut power bills and improve their comfort, according to a report by the Australian Council of Social Service.

The report, released on Monday, also calls for a $2bn federal fund and coordinated policies across all levels of government to assist less-advantaged residents tap emerging technologies. They should also follow Victoria by banning new gas connections.

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Solar and on-shore wind provide cheapest electricity and nuclear most expensive, CSIRO analysis shows

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Estimates show small modular nuclear reactors would provide most expensive power and will not be available until 2030

Electricity generated by solar and on-shore wind is the cheapest in Australia, even after the significant expense of integrating them into the power grid is factored in, according to new analysis from the CSIRO.

Estimates of costs to build small modular nuclear reactors – a technology supported by the Coalition but not expected to be commercially available until at least 2030 – have risen dramatically and would provide the most expensive power, according to the draft GenCost report.

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Solar energy could power all health facilities in poorer countries and save lives, experts say

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Move would cost less than $5bn and cut toll of deaths from power outages and lack of supply, Cop28 delegates will hear

All healthcare facilities in poorer countries could be electrified using solar energy within five years for less than $5bn, putting an end to the risk of life from power outages, experts will argue at Cop28 this month.

“I would like the international community to commit to a deadline and funding to electrify all healthcare facilities,” said Salvatore Vinci, an adviser on sustainable energy at the World Health Organization and a member of its Cop28 delegation. “We have solutions now that were not available 10 years ago – there is no reason why babies should be dying today because there is not electricity to power their incubators.

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Ofgem plans to cut wind and solar delays by stripping out ‘zombie’ projects

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Regulator aims to reduce backlog as some wind and solar schemes wait up to 15 years to get hooked up

The energy regulator is to introduce rules designed to kick out “zombie” wind and solar farms from the lengthy queue to connect to Great Britain’s electricity grid.

Ofgem hopes to speed up the process of hooking up new energy projects to the electricity network in the face of a backlog that is deterring investment and Britain’s attempts to switch to clean energy.

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Wiggles ‘deeply disappointed’ over use of Hot Potato to deter homeless people – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Watts has gone on to confirm that there are still 65 Australians stuck in Gaza that the government is “supporting” and are being provided consular assistance.

Watts says Dfat is working to get those individuals to the Rafah crossing and out of Gaza “as soon as possible”.

We know this is an incredibly distressing time for Australians in Gaza and their families and we are providing all possible support we can, communicating through all available channels the best information and options we have about their safety in a very difficult situation.

The circumstances on the ground are incredibly challenging and they are changing on a day to day basis. This is a conflict zone. It is a very difficult operating environment so we do the best job we can in the circumstances.

Crossings like this are the result of an enormous effort from Australian consular officials and diplomats in the region. So many conversations at the ministerial level, foreign minister Wong spoke with her counterparts in the region and we’re grateful that this initial cohort has made the crossing from Gaza to Egypt.

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Solar-powered off-road car finishes 620-mile test drive across north Africa

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The Stella Terra was designed by students at Eindhoven University of Technology and completed trip without recharging

A solar-powered car said to be the first in the world capable of driving off-road over long distances without recharging has completed a 620-mile (1,000km) test drive across Morocco and the Sahara.

The two-seat Stella Terra, designed by students at the Eindhoven University of Technology, completed the journey across a variety of challenging landscapes as part of a final test of its lightweight frame and aerodynamic profile.

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Renewables ‘arms race’: clean energy report says Australia must spend $10bn a year or be left behind

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The country must work harder to attract investment to keep up with the US and other competitors, Clean Energy Council says

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will need to increase Australia’s investment in the renewable energy sector to $10bn a year over the coming decade if it’s to stay in the global clean energy “arms race”, industry modelling shows.

Albanese has indicated he will look to accelerate the transition to low emissions after Saturday’s Indigenous voice referendum as countries around the world move more quickly than expected to combat the climate crisis.

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Former rubbish dump in Essex becomes UK’s third largest solar farm

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Ockendon solar farm to generate enough clean electricity to power the equivalent of 15,000 homes


The largest solar farm in Europe to be built on a closed landfill site has begun generating renewable electricity from a former rubbish dump in Essex.

The Ockendon solar farm, the third largest in the UK, includes more than 100,000 solar modules covering 70 hectares (173 acres) of land.

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UK solar could be ‘dumping ground’ for products of Chinese forced labour, ministers warned

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Energy bill amendment requires large solar energy projects to prove supply chain free of slave labour

The UK risks becoming a dumping ground for the products of forced labour from Xinjiang province in China if it rejects reforms proposed by members of the foreign affairs select committee with cross-party support, ministers have been warned.

An amendment to the energy bill, due to be debated on Tuesday, would require solar energy companies to prove that their supply chains are free of slave labour. The Xinjiang region is the source of 35%-40% of the world’s solar-grade polysilicon, the key raw material in the solar photovoltaic supply chain.

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Aboriginal owners and energy investors team up in plan for $3bn green hydrogen plant in WA

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‘Radically different’ partnership aims to construct more than a million solar panels to power electrolysers

A unique partnership between three traditional owner groups and a major clean energy investor is promising to establish a $3bn green hydrogen project in the far north of Western Australia.

In what could be one of Australia’s biggest clean energy projects, more than a million solar panels will power electrolysers to produce 50,000 tonnes of green hydrogen a year.

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China on course to hit wind and solar power target five years ahead of time

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Beijing bolstering position as global renewables leader with solar capacity more than rest of world combined

China is shoring up its position as the world leader in renewable power and potentially outpacing its own ambitious energy targets, a report has found.

China is set to double its capacity and produce 1,200 gigawatts of energy through wind and solar power by 2025, reaching its 2030 goal five years ahead of time, according to the report by Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based NGO that tracks operating utility-scale wind and solar farms as well as future projects in the country.

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Solar helps Texas carry energy load as heatwave puts power grid to test

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State has managed to avoid rolling blackouts amid three-digit temperatures thanks to its supply of solar power, experts say

As a deadly, record-breaking heatwave puts Texas’ grid to the test, renewable power sources are helping the state maintain energy reliability, contrary to some of the state’s lawmakers claims that clean energy is less reliable.

Texas has for more than two weeks been blanketed by an oppressive heat dome, and federal forecasters say there is “no end in sight”. The sweltering temperatures have forced people to stay in their homes with their air conditioners cranked, causing energy demand to soar to record levels.

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Solar powers ahead with hopes of a renewables record for solstice month

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As the industry gathers in London this week, there are signs of a new dawn after the damage done by Tory subsidy cuts

Britain’s solar industry delivered record levels of renewable electricity to the power grid earlier this year, but as daylight hours stretch longer around the summer solstice, it could be on track to reach another record.

Solar power generation in June is on track to come within a hair’s breadth of the record set during an unusually sunny May in 2020 at about 20 gigawatt hours, according to Alastair Buckley, the professor of organic electronics at the University of Sheffield.

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Mike Cannon-Brookes wins control of Sun Cable solar project from Andrew Forrest

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Entrepreneur says plan to send renewable energy to Singapore from Northern Territory a ‘nation-building project for Australia’

Mike Cannon-Brookes has prevailed over Andrew Forrest in a billionaires’ battle for control of Sun Cable, an ambitious development promising to transmit solar-generated electricity from the Northern Territory outback to Singapore.

Cannon-Brookes and Forrest had been involved in a bidding process for the $30bn-plus project after they fell out over its future direction and the company, also called Sun Cable, went into voluntary administration.

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NSW renewable energy zones up to two years behind schedule

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‘We are not going to allow the lights to go off,’ state energy minister Penny Sharpe vows

New South Wales’ two main renewable energy zones will be delayed for as long as two years and cost more to build with landholder opposition to new transmission lines partly to blame, the energy minister, Penny Sharpe, has said.

The Minns government briefed journalists about its network infrastructure strategy on Wednesday, revealing that the central-west Orana zone would not hit its “energisation date” until 2027-28, compared with an initial 2025 target. Similarly, the New England zone will now start in 2029 compared with an initial 2027 goal.

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New US rules could stem emissions from coal and gas power plants

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Environmental groups laud the regulation, which would advance clean power in the US – if it survives expected legal challenges

The US is set to impose new carbon pollution standards upon its coal- and gas-fired power plants, in a move that the Biden administration has hailed as a major step in confronting the climate crisis.

Under new rules put forward by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), new and existing power plants will have to meet a range of new standards to cut their emissions of planet-heating gases. This, the EPA predicts, will spur facilities to switch to cleaner energy such as wind and solar, install rarely used carbon capture technology or shut down entirely.

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