Written by Kyla Mandel / Think Progress / 14 May 2019

CO2 in the atmosphere has reached unprecedented levels.

The concentration of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere reached an unprecedented level this month. Researchers at the fossil fuel giant Exxon saw it coming decades ago.

Measurements taken on May 3 at the world’s oldest measuring station, the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, recorded “humanity’s first day ever with more than 415 parts per million [ppm] CO2 in the air,” according to the United Nation’s climate change Twitter account. As of May 12, levels have remained steady at 415 ppm.

Never before in human history has there been so much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The last time scientists believe it may have been this high was 2.5 to 5 million years ago during the Pliocene epoch, when sea levels were 25 meters higher than today and global temperatures were warmer by 2-3 degrees Celsius.

Unlike back then, however, the record carbon dioxide emissions being recorded now are the result of humans burning fossil fuels, which releases harmful heat-trapping pollution into the atmosphere. And scientists at Exxon predicted this decades ago.

According to an internal 1982 document from Exxon Research and Engineering Company — obtained by InsideClimate News as part of its 2015 investigation into what Exxon knew about the impact of fossil fuels on climate change — the company was modeling out the concentration of carbon emissions several years into the future.

According to a graph displaying the “growth of atmospheric CO2 and average global temperature increase” over time, the company expected that, by 2020, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would reach roughly 400 to 420 ppm. This month’s measurement of 415 ppm is right within the expected curve Exxon projected under its “21st Century Study-High Growth scenario.”

Not only did Exxon predict the rise in emissions, it also understood how severe the consequences would be.

“Considerable uncertainty also surrounds the possible impact on society of such a warming trend, should it occur,” the internal document stated. “At the low end of the predicted temperature range there could be some impact on agricultural growth and rainfall patterns which could be beneficial in some regions and detrimental in others.”

“At the high end, some scientists suggest there could be considerable adverse impact including the flooding of some coastal land masses as a result of a rise in sea level due to melting of the Antarctic ice sheet,” it continued, stating this would only take place centuries after temperatures warmed by 3 degrees Celsius.

Despite this knowledge, the company chose not to change or adapt its business model. Instead, it chose to invest heavily in disinformation campaigns that promoted climate science denial, failing to disclose its knowledge that the majority of the world’s fossil fuel reserves must remain untapped in order to avert catastrophic climate change.

The world is already experiencing the devastating impacts of climate change. As the very first line of the U.S. government’s National Climate Assessment asserts, “The impacts of climate change are already being felt in communities across the country.”

From more intense flooding, drought, heat waves, wildfires, and hurricanes, the world is becoming increasingly aware of what life in a warming world will look like. In 2018, the United States alone experienced 14 different climate and weather-related disasters, each costing over a billion dollars.

The record carbon emissions recorded this month indicate things will most likely continue to get worse; carbon remains in the atmosphere for a long time, meaning it continues to warm the world long after it is emitted. “This is a grim reminder of the perilous path we are on,” climate scientist Michael Mann said.

Mann was one of three scientists to first release what is known as the famous “hockey stick” graph in 1999. The graph, illustrating temperature increase over time, takes the shape of a hockey stick due to the sharp increase after the Industrial Revolution. Twenty years after the graph was released, CO2 levels were roughly 366 ppm. Today, Mann told ThinkProgress over email, they’re increasing by about 3 ppm each year.

“If you do the math, we’ll cross 450 ppm — which likely locks in dangerous planetary warming of more than 2C/3.5F — in just over a decade,” he said. “That means we have to act dramatically, now, to lower global carbon emissions (by about 5-10% a year) if we are to avert catastrophic climate change impacts.”

Energy Stuff specialises in Residential Solar with emphasis on Repairs, Replacements and upgrades. We also provide new systems, battery storage, Small Commercial, Off-Grid systems and smart monitoring systems. Energy Stuff only uses CEC accredited installers and we fully comply with the Victorian Govt. Solar Rebate Program.

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Written by Sophie Vorrath / One Step Off The Grid / 10 May 2019

Up to 4MW of solar will be installed across six remote indigenous communities in Western Australia, as part of an $11.6 million plan to slash the use of heavy-polluting and heavily subsidised diesel fuel.

The “low-cost and reliable renewable energy solution” was announced by the Labor McGowan government as part of its budget this week, to install an average of 400-600kW in each community, starting next year.

It’s a win-win for the Labor government, considering the project will slash the cost of providing power to the 100 per cent diesel fuelled towns, while also cutting the cost of the government subsidy paid to the state-owned Horizon Power.

The program is being rolled out alongside Horizon Power’s solar incentive project which encourages eligible remote communities to invest in their own roof-top solar on community buildings, with Horizon Power contributing 30 per cent of the cost.

Energy minister Bill Johnston said the roll-out of solar farms would also foster community development through local jobs, training and investment opportunities.

State Aboriginal affairs minister Ben Wyatt – who is also state Treasurer – said it would reduce power bills for community buildings and improve energy reliability at times when it can be hard to access diesel.

The communities set to get the solar power stations are spread throughout the state’s vast Kimberley region, and the include northernmost settlement in Western Australia, Kalumburu.

The government said on Thursday that construction was scheduled for Warmun and Kalumburu in 2020 and in Ardyaloon, Beagle Bay, Djarindjin/Lombadina and Bidyadanga in 2021.

Horizon says it intends to release a Request for Tender for the construction of the east Kimberley systems in May 2019.

“The program follows on from the launch of the McGowan Government’s Energy Transformation Strategy, which aims to deliver cleaner, affordable and more reliable energy,” Johnston said.

But the W.A. Greens say the lack of funds actually allocated to driving the transition to renewables in the state budget tells a different story.

“The only commitment … made to assisting the transition to renewables is two specific solar projects,” Greens WA climate and energy spokesperson Tim Clifford said.

“And though they are important and valid projects, the spend is nothing compared to more than $41 million dollars that is just being given to the fossil fuel industry and related infrastructure.

“Rather than endorse the recently rescinded EPA guidelines to make big polluters offset emissions, the McGowan government is gifting hundreds of thousands of dollars to the sequestration project; to a company that has paid just $50 million in tax from an $8 billion profit,” Clifford said, in reference to Chevron.

“Spending three times as much on the big polluters of our planet, rather than clean energy, clearly shows were the state government’s priorities lie.”

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Written by Ashleigh McMillan / The Curier / 3 May 2019

Renewable energy leaders have welcomed a funding promise for training in the sector, as Ballarat hits ‘critical mass’ with wind energy.

Labor leader Bill Shorten promised on Thursday to put $75 million towards building Australia’s renewable energy sector, which he said will create 70,000 jobs.

National director of the Australian Wind Alliance Andrew Bray said if it goes ahead, the program would be a real “boost for getting younger people involved in the renewable sector”.

“It means you can have jobs in places that were previously dependent almost solely on agriculture,” he said. “Jobs in agriculture go up and down, depending on the seasons and commodity prices, but these are long-term jobs and they’ve meant that young people can stay in local towns.

“Part of the issue for rural and regional Australia has been keeping young people, and having the jobs for them to stay around.”

Ballarat is now directly tied to renewable energy – not only for the hundreds of wind turbines dotting hills around the region – but for a training centre now being created in the city by Federation University.

The $12.5 million Asia Pacific Renewable Energy Training Centre, the first of its kind in Victoria, will train apprentices in the installation and maintenance of wind turbines, solar panels, and domestic batteries, as well as site safety.

Labor has said they will put $45 million towards apprenticeship incentives through which employers could get up to $8000 for taking on a trainee.

The apprentices themselves would get $2000 to help with education costs.

Mr Bray said programs like those at FedUni will be working on the “latest, up-to-date technology” and will work closely with industry, while also having the possibility of a dependable job nearby once they complete study.

“In Ballarat, it’s reaching a real critical mass, there’s now hundreds of turbines around that need technicians to service them.”

If successful at the May 18 election, a Shorten government would also put $20 million towards upgrading TAFE facilities, so equipment at the sites such as batteries and solar panels are industry standard.

A further $10 million would go into a clean energy training fund so workers can be trained and upskilled for renewable industries.

Energy Stuff specialises in Residential Solar with emphasis on Repairs, Replacements and upgrades. We also provide new systems, battery storage, Small Commercial, Off-Grid systems and smart monitoring systems. Energy Stuff only uses CEC accredited installers and we fully comply with the Victorian Govt. Solar Rebate Program.

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Written by Giles Parkinson / RenewEconomy / 2 May 2019

The two biggest solar farms in South Australia were switched off for long periods this week as wholesale market prices fell below zero – the result, apparently, of new “zero price clauses” in power purchase contracts.

As RenewEconomy reported on Tuesday, and updated on Wednesday, wholesale prices in South Australia fell below zero for extended periods on Tuesday (nearly six hours), and on Wednesday (nearly four hours).

This was the result of high wind and solar output, as well as relatively low demand, and export limits (down to 50MW) on the main link to Victoria because of maintenance works, which meant that excess renewable production could not be traded interstate.

As Dylan McConnell, from the Climate and Energy College in Melbourne, points out, and illustrates with the graph above from the OpenNem resource, the state’s two biggest solar farms both switched off power on Wednesday.

The Bungala One and the semi-complete Bungala 2 projects cut output from around 1030am, ahead of the anticipated zero pricing event, while the newly-complete Tailem Bend solar farm cut power off on both Tuesday and Wednesday from around 11am as the prices hit zero. Both projects were offline for nearly six hours on Wednesday.

Both the 220MW Bungala projects and the 95MW Tailem Bend projects have long term power purchase agreements with Orign Energy and Snowy Hydro respectively.

But a new feature of PPAs being signed in Australia these days is a “zero price” clause that means that the off-taker will not pay for the output of the solar farm at the contracted price if the market price falls into negative territory. This is considered a major risk in states like South Australia, and Queensland.

This is because the off-taker does not want to pay twice – once for the contracted price to the solar plant owner, and secondly the market price for the output. As a result, the solar farm is switched off.

In the case of Tailem Bend, that must have been frustrating because the solar farm only reached full commercial operations, and permission to operate at full capacity, on April 29, the day before the zero pricing events.

The first 110MW stage of the Bungala solar farm was completed last year, but the second 110MW stage has been working slowly through its permissions. It only reached its next stage of permissions, which allows output of around 30MW, in recent weeks, but also had to switch off when prices fell below zero and to lows of minus $120/MWh.

In any case, negative prices should not be a long term phenomenon, even if the growth of rooftop solar matches periods of minimum demand, an event that the market operator says could start to occur within a few years.

The addition of more battery storage and pumped hydro will be able to soak up the excess wind and solar output, and act as a “solar sponge”, even when the links to other states are constrained. Certainly, more solar farms will be looking for storage of one to two hours to soak up the output in such events. Being switched off is not part of the business model.

For the moment, installations like the Tesla big battery operated by Neoen at Hornsdale have been having a party this week, getting paid to top up when the prices go negative, and then selling into the grid when prices rise again. As some industry analysts have noted. this is a great opportunities for household solar and “visual power plants”, as well as charging electric vehicles.

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2nd May 2019 / EcoGeneration

New rules rushed through by the Queensland Government are likely to hit the commercial solar sector hard when they come into effect in less than two weeks, and will make it harder for the state to meet its own renewable energy target, the Clean Energy Council said today.

Anna Freeman, the Clean Energy Council’s director of energy generation, said the new regulations for solar meant that electricians had to be used for work such as carrying unplugged solar panels or bolting them to a rail.

“This is like having to call in an electrician to hang a TV on a bracket on your wall. It’s absurd. It would be virtually impossible to electrocute yourself by handling an unconnected panel. You’re at greater risk from plugging in a toaster at home,” Freeman said.

“The changes will drive up the cost of building both large solar farms and commercial solar systems installed in places like shopping centres, schools, swimming pools and factories.

“Estimates from solar businesses are that the cost of building commercial projects will increase by 10-20%, delaying the payback period for businesses and schools and making many projects unviable.

“Combined with the effect on large-scale solar farms, these changes will slow the installation of solar across the state and make it more costly for businesses to control their energy costs.

“Not even an electrical apprentice will be able to handle and attach an unconnected solar panel, so the opportunities for apprentices to work in the new solar industry are going to be slashed. At the very time in which the Federal Labor Party announces its commitment to boost apprenticeships in renewable energy, the Queensland Government continues to persist with a regulation that will kill off many clean energy apprenticeships.

“From 13 May, those businesses which already have projects under construction are going to have to wear this extra cost, without the ability to pass this on to their customers. This means many small- to medium-sized businesses will be out of pocket,” she said.

Freeman said the sudden regulatory change had not been justified, with the government not able to demonstrate a single safety incident on a solar farm relating to the mounting and fixing of solar panels.

“To our knowledge, no other jurisdiction on the planet has such extreme and unnecessary regulation in place,” she said.

“We are asking the government to immediately delay this new regulation before people start losing their jobs, so that proper consultation can take place with the solar industry.

“If the Palaszczuk Government is willing to return to the table, we are confident that we can work co-operatively together with all parties to find a way forward that does not destroy jobs and investment.”

Energy Stuff specialises in Residential Solar with emphasis on Repairs, Replacements and upgrades. We also provide new systems, battery storage, Small Commercial, Off-Grid systems and smart monitoring systems. Energy Stuff only uses CEC accredited installers and we fully comply with the Victorian Govt. Solar Rebate Program.

For further information please call us on 1300 656 205 or go to our website at http://www.energystuff.com.au

Written by Sophie Vorrath / One Step Off The Grid / 29 April 2019

Solar households in New South Wales could soon be paid more for the rooftop generated power they export to the grid, after the state’s recommended feed-in tariff benchmark was raised from the 2018-19 range of 6.9-8.4c/kWh, to 8.5-10.4c/kWh.

NSW pricing regulator IPART said last week that it had decided to boost the recommended FiT range for the 2019/2020 period by around 2c/kWh to keep it in line with the wholesale electricity price, which was forecast to move higher.

The increase in the benchmark rooftop solar FiT range – which serves only to guide retailers, and is entirely voluntary – comes a year after it was controversially slashed by some 44 per cent, from 11.9-15c/kWh in the 2017/18 period to 6.9-8.4c/kWh.

As we reported at the time, IPART justified the cut in the solar FiT by reasoning that wholesale electricity prices were forecast to fall in the coming financial year.

This reasoning was not received well, however, with critics noting that falling wholesale electricity prices could be at least partly attributed to the market impact of rooftop solar.

Now, with electricity prices forecast to go up, so is the recommended FiT range. But IPART still argues that solar households should not be rewarded financially for any benefits their investments might bring to the broader grid, through reducing emissions in the electricity sector, shaving daily peak demand, or avoiding the need for costly infrastructure builds.

In its report published on Friday, the pricing regulator said that while solar panels could help reduce wholesale prices during the day by increasing the supply of electricity in the market, this in turn could cause other generators to exit the market faster, leading to higher prices.

And it pointed to recent reviews by the AEMC and the Victorian Essential Services Commission (ESC) which found that potential network benefits were too variable between location, across times, and between years to be well suited for remuneration via a broad‐based solar tariff.

“Like the other generators that impact prices, solar customers should not be additionally compensated or penalised for their impact on wholesale prices,” IPART says.

“For example, a new gas generator or wind turbine that contributes to reduced wholesale spot prices does not receive any additional payment to reflect the lower wholesale price. It takes the same market price as all other generators, and so all customers benefit from lower prices.

“Likewise, a customer who consumes electricity by switching on an appliance and thereby increasing the market demand for electricity and electricity prices for all customers is not required to compensate the other customers for these higher prices. These are normal outcomes of a competitive market.”

IPART also argues that forcing retailers to pay a higher feed-in tariff to solar households in New South Wales would result in higher costs to retailers, which would mean a roughly $45/year increase in prices across the board, including to non-solar homes.

“Households without solar panels should not have to pay even higher retail prices to reduce the bills of customers with solar panels,” the IPART report says.

“This would disadvantage the households who are unable to install a solar system themselves (for example, because they rent or they cannot afford the upfront costs).”

All that said, the table below – also published by IPART – shows that most retailers in NSW are actually paying a solar feed-in tariff to customers that is higher than the recommended range. In some case, quite a bit higher.

A further table published by IPART (below) shows the range of time-dependent solar feed-in tariff benchmark ranges recommended by IPART – a measure it brought in in the 2018/29 period under request from the state government.

The “specifically requested” change, as IPART explained last year, means retailers can choose to offer a tariff that varies depending on the time of day the solar customer exports to the grid. But as IPART noted in its report last week, most retailers are choosing to ignore this option.

“Retailers may offer different feed-in tariffs throughout the day to reflect (the daily) variation in wholesale prices,” the report says.

“Our time-dependent benchmarks provide guidance about the value of exports at different times. But retailers do not have to offer a time-dependent option for customers, and most are continuing to only offer an average rate for all exports.”

Energy Stuff specialises in Residential Solar with emphasis on Repairs, Replacements and upgrades. We also provide new systems, battery storage, Small Commercial, Off-Grid systems and smart monitoring systems. Energy Stuff only uses CEC accredited installers and we fully comply with the Victorian Govt. Solar Rebate Program.

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Written by Sheryl Hall & Bridget Rollason / ABC News / 24 April 2019

A number of Victorian solar companies are laying off staff after the Victorian Government placed a temporary freeze on a solar panel rebate program.

The $1.3 billion solar homes package started last August and has been so popular that the rebates for this financial year have been fully subscribed.

“We’ll spend the next few weeks processing existing applications in the system and working with the industry to complete the outstanding installations,” a Government spokesperson said.

There are currently more than 30,000 applications in the system and 10,000 rebates have already been paid.

A wider program will be rolled out on July 1 this year which will have, “even more rebates available, along with zero interest loans”, the spokesperson said.

However, since the freeze on new applications came into effect, the work for solar-installation companies like Sky Energy Systems of Melbourne has dried up.

The business’s directors, Sam Kent and Ross Howard, said they had no choice but to cut just over half the company’s staff when customers started cancelling their orders.

‘We’re talking about how many will be let go’

Twenty-five people have been told to finish up work on Friday and another 15 staff could go in two weeks’ time.

“Having no sales is like having no oxygen. You can’t breathe. There’s no business so it’s devastating,” Mr Kent said.

The company employed 40 full-time staff in Keysborough and last year won an industry award as top installer.

“Unfortunately we’ve had to make some tough calls. I’ve actually just got out of a meeting with management where we’re talking about how many will be let go,” Mr Kent said.

“It’s been quite dramatic, not only the cancellations but now the stagnation in sales.

“We do about 20 installations a week and the average sale is about $10,000. About half of those cancelled immediately.”

The Government spokesperson said there was still some work around for businesses, but Mr Kent said it was only enough to tide them over for about two weeks.

Businesses ‘shocked’ by lack of warning

Sunrun Solar owner Tarak Shah had to lay off five of his 10 full-time staff from his Mount Waverly company this week.

“At first when it happened, I couldn’t sleep for a couple of nights, because you think of your staff as your family because they have their own families as well and they’re going to find it really hard,” he said.

“We’re getting to the point where we’re getting no business at all, customers just want to wait for the rebate, so nobody wants to sign up.”

“It’s going to be a really hard couple of months as a small business owner.”

Mr Shah lost eight customers overnight, when the Government announced the freeze.

He said he knows of three solar companies in Melbourne that have had to close their doors completely in the past week.

“You just think, ‘Is it really worth it to keep going? Or should I just shut the door and walk away from the business?’,” he said.

“It was a massive surprise, there was no communication from the Government that this is what they were planning to do, we expected we would have got a bit of notice as business owners, so we could plan ahead — it was a shock to the industry.”

No sales, no business

A petition has been launched on the change.org website calling on the Victorian Government to reconsider the temporary rebate halt.

“Because consumers know that the rebate will return on July 1, they will be holding off making a purchase,” the petition said.

“For these small businesses to survive 15 weeks without sales is unlikely.”

Mr Kent said many other solar companies are based interstate, and use subcontractors in Victoria.

“They’ll disappear interstate until the rebates come back. They are companies that are basically rebate-based so they follow the rebates,” Mr Kent said.

“The other half of the parties are like us, or Mum-and-Dad-type operators who do very-high-quality work.

“For everyone here it’s a mission and as I said we’re a young team and we feel like we’re pulling together to make a difference in the solar industry.”

Mr Kent said the business had shrunk to a skeleton crew and if they survived the next few weeks they would move the business away from residential rebates because the system had become “too volatile”.

Opposition energy spokesman Ryan Smith said the State Government should find the money to continue the scheme until the end of the financial year.

“The problem with the way this has rolled out is that the cap was a surprise to the industry,” Mr Smith said.

“Daniel Andrews needs to step up, acknowledge that his ministers made a wrong decision and either keep the rebates going or detail to business how he’s going to support them, and indeed how he’s going to support the dozens of workers who are now without work.”

Solar industry ‘distress’

CEO of the Clean Energy Council Kane Thornton said the Victorian Government should reallocate some of the funding set aside for the next financial year, to use over the next two months.

“Freezing the rebate program has caused great distress in the industry,” he said.

“I’ve spoken to many businesses, many of them in rural and regional Victoria that are feeling the pain and have already started to reduce the number of people that work in their businesses.

“That’s ultimately because the sales of solar systems will come to a grinding halt through this 10-week period and unfortunately this means these businesses will lose revenue and they’re going to have to take some pretty drastic action as a result.”

Energy Stuff specialises in Residential Solar with emphasis on Repairs, Replacements and upgrades. We also provide new systems, battery storage, Small Commercial, Off-Grid systems and smart monitoring systems. Energy Stuff only uses CEC accredited installers and we fully comply with the Victorian Govt. Solar Rebate Program.

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The first string inverter company listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange

Reposted by PowerArk Solar / Original Source

Ginlong (Solis) has recently celebrated their accomplishment in being listed on the Shenzhen stock exchange as a public company. Being the first of its kind, the China-based company Solis, is the only stock listed company with the main business in the string inverted sector. Founded in 2005, Ginlong Solis has flourished to be a leading high-level technical research and development team, many of whom are deemed experts within the PV systems field. Until today, Solis’ stock value is over 4 billion RMB and will continue to prosper, which will further build the company’s rapport and credibility internationally.

Landing the stock code: 300763, Ginlong Solis technologies is publicly offering 20 million shares, including 20 IPO shares offered at approximately 26.64 Yuan per share.

Solis has distributed products to more than 80 countries around the globe. Their brand strategy focal point has always outlined product reliability and performance advantage against competitors. The top ten customers for Solis are mostly from Asia, Europe, United States of America, Australia and many more regions and countries throughout the world.

What does this mean for their business?

By going public on the Shenzhen stock exchange, this opportunity has given Solis the platform they needed to expand as a brand internationally. From this, the market will push the brand Solis to more countries around the globe. Having IPOs (initial public offerings) available means that Solis will have the ability to invest more frugally in new products for the Australian market. Solis is a business that customers can place their trust in and rely on for a long time. More solar research and innovation can come into the Australian solar industry via this new change, aiding and growing our current market.More and more business will grow from this positive action which will in the long term, give Solis the credibility and global recognition they need to prosper further into the trusted Australian Solar market. Australian’s will have the opportunity to invest in a well-known and trusted brand, bringing prosperities onto Australian soil.

Energy Stuff specialises in Residential Solar with emphasis on Repairs, Replacements and upgrades. We also provide new systems, battery storage, Small Commercial, Off-Grid systems and smart monitoring systems. Energy Stuff only uses CEC accredited installers and we fully comply with the Victorian Govt. Solar Rebate Program.

For further information please call us on 1300 656 205 or go to our website at http://www.energystuff.com.au