Wominjeka! ABC science reporter Jacinta Bowler back in the hot seat for another week.
You know your scheme hasn't gone well if some stakeholders are calling it an "absolute nightmare" and yet that's exactly what's happened to WA's home battery rebate scheme.
Some installers are going so far as to boycott it entirely, claiming they haven't been paid for work.
It wasn't supposed to be this way!
Technology reporter James Purtill has dived deep into this issue, finding that the scheme might even be delaying the rate of battery installations in WA.
So, why are batteries so important? Well, stick with me, 'cause I'm here to tell you all about it.
Currently, we're great at producing solar power — just under 20 per cent of Australia's energy comes from solar.
But it's not all sunshine and rainbows. We produce heaps of solar in the middle of the day, and most of us don't use it at the time.
The solar goes off into the grid to be used elsewhere, which pushes the price of power down.
But later, when the Sun has gone down and we come home from work and turn the stove on for tea, our energy comes from other sources (mostly fossil fuels or wind if we're lucky).
Storing solar power in batteries during the day is one way to help us use more of that power in the evening, when demand and prices are higher.
In other news, have you thought about Australia's space industry recently? Belinda Smith over at Lab Notes has! And it seems that the land down under might be less of an underdog than we think.
Plus, there's a second episode of Artificial Evolution out, and it is a fascinating look at all the genetic tricks we can use to stop creatures going extinct.
That's it from me! Catch ya next week.
If you have feedback, fun science photos or something else you want to tell us about, send us an email.
More ABC science and technology: Web | Facebook | YouTube | ABC iview
