Coronavirus lockdowns and low interest rates are encouraging more Australians to install solar panels on their roofs.

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The coronavirus pandemic has not deterred Australians from installing rooftop solar panels in ever-greater numbers, driving what is expected to be another record year for growth in green power generation.

The increased number of people working from home, more spending on home improvement and low interest rates are encouraging households to install solar panels, the Clean Energy Regulator said in a report on Thursday, revising up its forecast for new installations by 7%.

Australia already has one of the highest rates of rooftop solar in the world, driven by falling costs, an abundance of sunshine and a surge in electricity prices over the past decade.

The country is on track to match 2019’s record for 6.3 gigawatts of new renewables capacity this year, the Clean Energy Regulator said in a report on Thursday, with the contribution of new small-scale solar power at 2.9 gigawatts.

Around 29% of suitable households now have panels installed on their roofs, according to the report.

“Australia now has over 2.4 million rooftop solar PV systems on residential dwellings with a combined capacity of 9.7 gigawatts,” the regulator said.

“While each individual system is small, together they form one of the biggest generators in the electricity grid.”

Australians’ embrace of solar has created headaches for energy market planners, reducing demand for traditional generation and caused bigger fluctuations in electricity use across the day.

Here are the other key findings from the CER’s quarterly report:

• Rooftop solar installation rose by 41% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year ago, despite a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19
• Large-scale renewable projects have added 2 gigawatts of capacity so far this year, with the total expected to reach 3.4 gigawatts in 2020
• There were 43 projects registered under the government’s Emissions Reduction Fund program in the first half of the year, already surpassing 2019’s total
• Total emissions reduction from the Renewable Energy Target and Emissions Reduction Fund is expected to be approximately 54 million tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent in 2020, compared with 48 million tons in 2019

SOURCE: NOBLE REPORTERS MEDIA, BLOOMBERG

#Newsworthy…

Australia’s leader called Wednesday for coronavirus immunisations to be mandatory, wading into ethical and safety debates raging around the world as the race to develop a vaccine gathers pace.

Almost 30 potential vaccines are currently being tested on humans across the globe in hope of ending a pandemic that has now killed more than 775,000 people and infected nearly 22 million, according to an AFP tally.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he wants all 25 million Australians to get the jab after the country secured access to a vaccine currently under development by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.

“There are always exemptions for any vaccine on medical grounds, but that should be the only basis,” he said.

Nations are scrambling to develop an immunisation or gain access to one of a handful of contenders in the final stages of clinical trials.

Upping the ante, Russia on August 11 said it had developed the world’s first vaccine offering “sustainable immunity”, and was in the final stage of human testing.

But the announcement was met with scepticism by the World Health Organization, which said it still needed a rigorous review, and scientists say it has been approved without large-scale trials.

Among the competitors, Brazilian health regulators on Tuesday gave the green light to the final stage of trials on a vaccine by Johnson & Johnson.

The US pharmaceutical firm will test its drug on 7,000 volunteers in Brazil, authorities said, part of a group of up to 60,000 worldwide.

South Africa, meanwhile, will launch clinical trials of a US-developed vaccine with 2,900 volunteers this week, the second such study in the African country worst hit by the disease.

However, the push for a vaccine has coincided with a rise in anti-vaccine sentiment that could hinder efforts to encourage widespread uptake.

– ‘Fastest way’ –
The global outbreak has seen a sharp rise in online misinformation, speculation and opposition — something experts have dubbed an “infodemic” — with debate raging over whether vaccine rules impinge on personal freedoms.

The WHO has said the planet’s highest-risk populations must all be inoculated simultaneously or else it will be impossible to rebuild the global economy.

It has appealed to countries to join its global shared vaccine programme rather than go it alone in developing a cure.

Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the most exposed 20 per cent of each country’s population — including frontline health workers, adults over 65 and those with pre-existing conditions — would be vaccinated first in the WHO-led scheme.

“The fastest way to end this pandemic and to reopen economies is to start by protecting the highest risk populations everywhere, rather than the entire populations of just some countries,” he said.

– New spikes –
His warning comes as the virus refuses to die across large parts of the globe, with South Korea and Lebanon the latest countries to witness new spikes.

Seoul ordered nightclubs, museums and buffet restaurants to close, and banned large gatherings in and around the capital, after a burst of infections mostly linked to Protestant churches.

The country on Wednesday reported 297 new cases, its sixth consecutive day of triple-digit increases after several weeks with numbers generally in the 30s and 40s.

In Lebanon, authorities announced a new lockdown and overnight curfew to rein in a spike following a colossal chemical explosion on August 4 that has hampered virus prevention efforts.

In the absence of a vaccine, some people around the world have been resorting to novel and whacky methods to ward off the virus.

Namibia’s health minister on Tuesday was forced to warn against the use of elephant dung, traditionally steamed and inhaled as a cure for the flu, to ward off COVID-19.

The sparsely populated southern African country has seen infections double over the past month and many Namibians have turned to natural remedies.

Dung is widely believed to treat body ailments such as nosebleeds, headaches and toothaches.

“A desperate person may do a desperate thing,” minister Kalumbi Shangula said.

#Newsworthy…