The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has launched a AUD 60 million funding round for research and development (R&D). The R&D is to discover innovative solutions for ultra low-cost solar. The funding reflects ARENA’s ambition for innovation in solar PV and will focus on six areas across two streams.
The first stream covers cells and modules, while the second stream covers balance of systems, operation and maintenance. The first stream will support efforts to increase efficiency, lower costs, and improve stability. Furthermore, the second stream will focus on reducing balance of system deployment costs, reducing operations and maintenance costs, and other levelised cost of electricity reduction or innovation to increase yield. The AUD 60 million funding will be equally split between the two streams.
Earlier in July 2025, ARENA awarded up to AUD 432 million in grant funding to Orica’s Hunter Valley hydrogen hub. The hydrogen hub will receive the funding as the second recipient of ARENA’s Hydrogen Headstart Program. The hub will produce renewable hydrogen using a 50 MW electrolyser powered by renewable electricity.
