A trend for solar power trading in locally produced solar energy is catching on across the globe.

Solar energy – on the rooftop of homes and businesses and increasingly in large scale ground mounted arrays – provided more than 3 per cent of Australia’s electricity demand in 2016, and appears on track to deliver at least 30 per cent by 2030, before becoming the dominant source of power for the sunburnt country.

There are a whole bunch of reasons why the Adani coal mine does not make sense: for the environment, the climate and on basic economics.

A high-powered consortium that is proposing to build a battery storage gigafactory in Townsville in north Queensland says it is closer to choosing a site for the multi-billion dollar investment after meetings with the local council and state government officials.