Large-scale solar’s rapidly falling costs has seen work on a record-setting number of projects get underway in Australia in 2018 – worth some 2 GW of capacity. The Clean Energy Council’s Kane Thornton made the observation at its Large-scale Industry Forum in Brisbane yesterday.

The 87 MW Beryl Solar Farm in New South Wales is set to become one of the first in the world to deploy First Solar’s Series 6 modules. The U.S. module manufacturer is the project developer, with Downer selected to commence construction in July.

Single-axis tracking technology will be deployed in the vast majority of Australian large scale solar projects currently under development. Rystad Energy made the observation in its latest research note, adding that at present two companies share 90% of the confirmed orders.

Green Energy Markets’ small-scale solar figures for April reveal that above 100 MW is emerging as the new normal for monthly installations in the segment in 2018. While the month was below the record-setting 127 MW in March, April’s 109 MW indicates that installations north of 100 MW is new normal for the Australian residential and small commercial sector.

SolarEdge has announced the launch of a new virtual power plant solution promising grid services and reducing the necessity for costly grid infrastructure investments.

Australia-based peer-to-peer (P2P) energy pioneer Power Ledger will partner with Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) to trial its blockchain-enabled platform. The limited trial will first involve only 10 homes in Osaka, however, Power Ledger says that Japan is an excellent fit for P2P energy trading.

Rooftop solar PV installation rates in Australia are breaking all previous records. March saw the highest number of rooftop systems ever installed in the country, worth a capacity of some 127 MW.

Analysis from Rystad Energy has revealed that sub-AU$60/MWh utility-scale solar projects could be viable in sunny parts of Australia today. The highly competitive EPC landscape has been identified as the major driver of the improving PV power plant economics although, as always, cost of capital remains key.

Testing from TÜV Rheinland has revealed that PV inverters and battery storage systems are vulnerable to hacking. By changing system parameters, a hacker could potentially cause a battery system to corrode, “making it like a ‘bomb’.”

5,056 MW of large scale solar and wind are currently being built in Australia. The latest figures from Green Energy Markets shows that the total passed the 5 GW milestone for the first time in February.