The coal-dependent state of New South Wales faces rolling blackouts on Friday as the extraordinary summer heatwave continues across Australia, and after South Australia’s grid faced similar problems on Wednesday.

After a week of energy policy talk dominated by the Turnbull government’s outspoken support for new coal power generation for Australia, the independent energy research firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance has joined the growing chorus of voices saying, “umm, I don’t think so.”

The threat of heatwave related blackouts in Australia is another reason households are contemplating increased energy independence through the installation of solar and battery systems.

Stanford University engineers have utilised urea, a compound that can be derived from animal urine, to produce a super-efficient solar battery that could provide a low-cost energy storage solution.