Weak regulation and a lack of mandatory inspections have increased fire risks for the one in four homes with rooftop PV panels. Here's what we need to do to be safer.
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Articles on Rooftop solar
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State governments, councils, researchers and entrepreneurs are slowing our slide to disaster – but they need others to step up.
Australia is in the midst of a solar energy boom, yet it is lagging behind other countries when it comes to 'building-integrated photovoltaics' - solar cells built into the very fabric of buildings.
Australia urgently needs to prepare for a coming tsunami of solar panel and battery waste.
Australia's consumer watchdog has concluded that rooftop solar incentives have distorted the market unfairly for those who cannot afford solar panels, and has recommended the scheme ends ten years early.
Environmentalists and climate hawks are cheering, but many experts aren't excited about the state making rooftop solar panels mandatory on most new homes beginning in 2020.
A trade spat could jack up the cost of going solar, killing jobs and obstructing efforts to do something about climate change.
A new report predicts a boom in household solar and batteries as Australia's electricity networks move to a more sustainable footing, with some states poised for a 500% boost in rooftop solar.
Critics don't think Tesla can sell enough home batteries to justify its acquisition of SolarCity, but what they're underestimating is the potential for innovation the Gigafactory brings.
When will residential solar be cheaper than the cost of power from the grid? This point of 'grid parity' is a moving target but moving closer in a number of places.
Top contributors
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Chief economist, CSIRO energy, CSIRO
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Professorial fellow, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, University of Melbourne
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Professor, Griffith School of Engineering, Griffith University
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Professor of Management, Farmer School of Business, Miami University
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Associate Professor of Economics, Georgia State University
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Associate Professor of Public Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
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Research Fellow of Energy, University of Texas at Austin
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Assistant Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy, University of California, Berkeley
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Lecturer, University of South Australia
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Senior Associate, Grattan Institute
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Timothy O'Leary is a Friend of The Conversation.
Lecturer in Construction and Property, University of Melbourne
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Senior Research Fellow, Griffith University
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PhD Candidate, Griffith University
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Postdoctoral researcher on sustainable development (Energy and Water), Western Sydney University
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Professor, Western Sydney University
