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DIVE INTO Solar SavingsFebruary2016
Why would the world accept Australia’s offer to store nuclear waste?
Mark Diesendorf, UNSW Australia While acknowledging that nuclear electricity is not commercially viable in South Australia, the Royal Commission’s tentative findings give strong support to the extraordinary notion that the state should attempt to profit by storing high-level nuclear waste from countries that do have nuclear power. The scheme envisages a combination of above-ground temporary […]
The winners and losers in Tesla’s battery plan for the home
Craig Froome, The University of Queensland Tesla’s plans to use its new battery storage system to power homes will provide households with more opportunities to reduce bills. But it will also cause headaches for the electricity distribution companies. The company’s founder, Elon Musk, announced last week that it had developed the Powerwall batteries that could […]
How to build a plane that never needs to land
Richard Cochrane, University of Exeter The British military is reportedly set to purchase two planes that can fly for months on end without needing to land. These large solar-powered “Zephyr” drones would likely be sent to carry out long-term surveillance missions and could constantly monitor an area with high-quality imagery. They could also be used […]
Hot summer nights, and cold winter evenings: how to be comfortable and save money all year long
Tim Forcey, University of Melbourne Every summer, the number of Australian homes equipped with air conditioners goes up and up. Recent statistics show that 74% of Australian homes – 6.6 million so far – have some form of air conditioning. This stands to reason because our summers are becoming hotter and hotter while we increasingly […]
The electricity network is changing fast, here’s where we’re heading
Paul Graham, CSIRO Things are changing extremely fast in the electricity sector. In 2013 the electricity industry and its stakeholders came together in the CSIRO Future Grid Forum to imagine the possibilities for the future of electricity industry to 2050. Electricity demand was falling, solar panels were being adopted en masse, retail prices were rising, […]
Why you should stay on the grid, even with your solar-powered batteries
Rodney Stewart, Griffith University Anything that can help cut our electricity bill is to be welcomed, and Tesla’s solar rechargeable batteries, now available in Australia, are just the latest option. Many Australian households have already installed solar photovoltaic (PV) panels to generate their own electricity, even selling some back into the grid. Now they will […]
The cheapest way to scale up wind and solar energy? High-tech power lines
Christopher Clack, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Wind power and solar power are ways to reduce carbon emissions, but these generation sources are dependent on the vagaries of the weather, which means neither wind nor solar can produce electricity on-demand at all hours of the day. This variability has led many to assume that greatly […]
Australia’s emissions are climbing again, but it already has the policies to turn the tide
Gordon Weiss, University of Sydney The resumed growth of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions after almost a decade of consistent decline shows the scale of the challenge ahead if Australia is to meet its climate commitments. This week’s RepuTex analysis forecasts that national emissions will rise 6% by 2020, with no peak in sight until 2030. […]
With big solar Australia could be backing a winner, but it still needs leadership
Iain MacGill, UNSW Australia The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) announced this week A$350 million in joint funding to support up to ten new large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in Australia and drive down the cost of large-scale solar. It’s not the first support for utility-scale PV offered by […]
