Would you believe that there are now more people working in the solar industry than at oil rigs and gas fields? With a 20 percent increase in size, the solar industry added more than 35,000 jobs — making about 209,000 solar energy employees working in the U.S. alone. From solar panel installers and designers, to engineers and sales personnel, the solar industry significantly outsizes oil and gas construction and is nearly three times the size of the total coal mining workforce.

New South Wales grid operator Endeavour Energy is tendering for a large scale battery storage array to reduce network costs for a new housing development west of Illawarra.

A recent survey in Australia revealed 34% of respondents were considering installing solar panels and 27% are contemplating battery storage.

Major progress toward developing a next-generation, all solid-state lithium battery has been achieved using a garnet-based ceramic electrolyte.