Solar panels are designed to convert sunlight into electricity. But when it's cloudy or rainy, they're useless. There are batteries, like the Tesla Powerwall, designed to store electricity for those cloudy days. But the technology isn't effective or cheap enough to make using solar power worth it in regions that don't receive a lot of sunlight. A group of researchers from Soochow University in China has come up with a promising solution to that problem: they've developed solar panels that can generate power from raindrops. www.inkl.com/newsletters/morning-edition/news/researchers-figured-out-how-to-generate-

Most solar farms align their solar arrays in rows and columns to form a grid. A new solar power plant in Datong China, decided to have a little fun with its design. China Merchants New Energy Group, one of the country's largest clean energy operators, built a 248-acre solar farm in the shape of a giant panda. The project is part of a larger effort to raise awareness among young people in China about clean energy. http://www.businessinsider.com/china-panda-solar-power-plant-2017-7

Rather than selling your solar power to the grid cheap and buying it back at a higher price, Redflow ZCell batteries let you store your own solar energy for when you need it. It gives you greater energy independence and keeps your lights on when grid power blacks out. Australia is the ideal place for energy storage in the home or business, with high energy costs, widespread solar panel deployment and rapidly disappearing government solar feed-in tariffs, and this tech was developed in Australia. www.redflow.com

Physicists just found a loophole in graphene that could unlock clean, limitless energy. New research into graphene has discovered a physical phenomenon on an atomic scale that could be exploited as a way to produce a virtually limitless supply of clean energy. A team of physicists led by researchers from the University of Arkansas discovered that a single ten micron by ten micron piece of graphene could produce ten microwatts of power. It's already being touted as a building block for future conductors. Perhaps we'll also be seeing it as a source of future electrical power. http://www.sciencealert.com/graphene-levy-flights-limitless-power-future-electronic-devices

This farm in Tasmania generates hydro electricity which it sells as well as uses.. Water for the system comes from a large dam on the property, which is fed by a creek. The water passes from the dam through a pipeline, which has a fall of about 100m, down to the hydro station. After it has passed through the station the water then flows back into the creek. The whole system can be controlled remotely from almost anywhere and there is minimal maintenance. https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/amp.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/farm-family-is-turning-water-into-money/news-story/60c5625ebc57fd2048468df9406199f8

The new owner of the Whyalla steel mill is teaming up with renewable provider, Zen Energy, and banking that renewable energy can provide clean power for steel production. The Whyalla Steelworks is a fully integrated steelworks and the only manufacturer of rail in Australia. http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/can-renewable-energy-power-a-steel-mill/8965796