Yes we need land for solar panels, wind farms, batteries, pumped hydro, transmission lines and so on. But the amount of land is surprisingly small, when you do the sums. Here’s why.
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Big changes are needed to create a consumer-centric National Electricity Market that’s able to manage the rise of rooftop solar.
A growing number of people are opting to generate their own renewable energy and escape load shedding.
Some power plants don’t have massive smokestacks or cooling towers – or even a central site.
The sunniest days also see the biggest demand for air con.
A heater with a 300-litre tank can store as much energy as a home battery at a fraction of the cost. Being able to store surplus solar energy at the right times helps grid stability and cuts emissions.
The need to limit output to the grid costs solar panel owners up to $4.5 million a year in South Australia alone. A bill of rights and responsibilities can make connecting to the grid fairer for all.
Most of our 10.8 million existing homes are in need of a retrofit to improve their performance and cut household energy use and emissions. The $1.6 billion for energy upgrades covers 170,000 homes.
The very people most in need of the cost savings from installing solar panels are missing out. Better policies are needed to make home solar systems accessible to all Australians.
To achieve low or even no electricity bills, there are three areas owners of home solar systems should focus on getting right.
Fixed limits are set for household energy exports because of the uncertain impacts of so many variable generation sources on the network. New energy data and simulation systems may offer an answer.
it’s hard to justify buying a battery right now on cost savings alone. If other reasons also matter to you, it’s easier to justify.
Subsidies are often a policy go-to for governments wanting to encourage more climate-friendly behaviours. But they should be used with caution.
A new analysis shows almost all emissions reductions will be the result of state government policies, and will have virtually nothing to do with the federal government.
India and China are the cheapest places to install rooftop solar, while the US, Japan and the UK are the most expensive.
Principais colaboradores
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Associate Professor of Industrial and Applied Mathematics, University of South Australia
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Adjunct Professor of Energy, Murdoch University
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Emeritus Professor of Sustainable Energy Engineering, University of South Australia
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Associate Professor, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University
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Professor of Environmental Mathematics, University of South Australia
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Richard Bean é um amigo do The Conversation.
Research Fellow, School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, The University of Queensland
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Visiting Fellow at the ANU Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems, Australian National University
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Associate Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research & Innovation, College of Design & Social Context, RMIT University
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Associate Professor, Department of Actuarial Studies and Business Analytics, Macquarie University
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Professor of Environmental Finance at UTS Business School, University of Technology Sydney
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Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, Macquarie University
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Lecturer, School of Economics, The University of Queensland
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PhD Student in Global Energy Engineering, University College Cork
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Senior Research Scholar in Energy Systems Modelling at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University
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Research fellow, Imperial College London
