A Solar Technology Demonstration Facility under development in Central Australia will display large scale solar installations in a bid to encourage the use of solar energy in Australia’s harsh desert environment.
The Desert Knowledge Precinct in Alice Springs will be the first site in Australia to publicly showcase over 15 large scale solar installations, and provide the opportunity to compare their performance as well as provide an interactive display for the public.
The $3 million precinct will display new solar photovoltaic technologies, including the first use of Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) Panels and Cadmium Indium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) Panels in mainstream grid connect installations. The facility will also display solar concentrator dishes utilising the latest in waterless cooling systems and large scale tracking arrays.
The Desert Knowledge Precinct will provide an opportunity to compare the performance of the different solar installations as well as provide an interactive display for the public.
Desert Knowledge Australia said the precinct will bring ‘knowledge rich’ organisations together for desert focused research and business development, and will be a place for post-secondary education and training for desert people.
Chief Executive Officer John Huigen said the project will give Desert Knowledge Australia the opportunity to provide evidence-based technology, which in the future will help to secure solar investment to create a sustainable future for desert regions.
The company aims to develop partnerships and networks to carry out the research, product development and marketing required to develop thriving desert knowledge economies in Australia. Desert Knowledge Australia has partnered with the Centre for Appropriate Technology who is providing project management for the development.
The facility has been hailed, not only as a place that will help reduce the precinct’s energy costs, but that will also train students, including those from the Centre for Appropriate Technology, in the use and maintenance of solar installations. It will also allow visiting school groups and tourists to see how the technologies work with a display of real-time data.
Mr Huigen said there had been a high level of interest from solar technology companies to participate in the facility and showcase their technologies.
“Because of the overwhelming response by the solar industry, additional funding was sought to include the extra technologies, resulting in a further $420,000 from the Australian Greenhouse Office,” he said.
BP Solar, Choice Electric, Kyocera Solar, Solar Sales and Solar Systems are some of the companies that will have installations on display at the facility.
Choice Electric Business Development Manager John Cooper said that Choice shared Desert Knowledge Australia’s vision to bring the best sustainable technologies to people in remote regions, while promoting new learning opportunities and providing a valuable database of information on renewable energy technologies.
The facility will also include an interpretive educational installation and display by BP Solar.
Manager of Marketing and Offer Development of BP Solar Nigel Morris said the project will undoubtedly be the most substantial and cutting edge demonstration of solar technology in Australia and will demonstrate the robustness and suitability of BP’s solar products in Australia’s harsh environment.
Kyocera Solar National Sales Manager Mark Shakeshaft said “The Solar Technology Demonstration Facility project will become a benchmark for consumers to base their purchasing decisions of the most appropriate PV technology to suit the unique climate of Australia.
“The program will deliver a clear picture of reliability and provide an unbiased performance measurement so that the consumer can decide upon the technology that best suits their application.”
Grant Behrendorff from the Centre for Appropriate Technology said that Alice Springs has some of the best renewable energy knowledge in Australia, and as it has evolved, the region has become a real resource point.
The Facility is funded by the Australian Government’s Remote Renewable Power Generation Rebate Program through the Australian Greenhouse Office and the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines. Construction is expected to be complete by the end of 2008.
On display
New solar PV technology on display at the facility will include Choice Electric’s Ground Mounted CIGS 6 kilowatt-peak (kWp). Choice Electric Business Development Manager John Cooper said CIGS is a new, non-silicon solar technology and that this project is a great opportunity to assess and showcase its performance beside other new and existing technologies.
This panel has not been used in a Grid Connect application in Australia before and has not been used on this scale in Australia previously. Choice Electric says the panel provides higher efficiency at lower cost than other products.
Phoenix Solar’s CdTe panels are a lower efficiency than Poly crystalline, but are improving. The company’s 6.4 kWp Ground Mounted CdTe display is a first for Australia in this context and uses cadmium (a toxic heavy metal) that is recovered from the waste of zinc and nickel processing. Through this process it makes the dangerous heavy metal effectively inert.
Kyocera Solar’s installation will incorporate Kyocera’s solar module technology, coupled with a selection of four specific mounting systems. The total installation will comprise of 17 kWp generation with 3 x 5 kW arrays, 2 tracking and one fixed orientation plus an additional emerging technology that uses hydraulics to operate the sun tracking device.
BP Solar’s 4*2.0 kWp Solar Compass is also on display, with arrays pointing east, west, north and flat. This installation demonstrates a project with specific technical merits that combines with industrial design and indigenous art. The four arrays will allow the assessment of operational system losses due to differences in orientation of arrays as well as degradation in output.
BP Solar also has on display a 5.1 kWp Roof Mounted poly-crystalline array which is intended to provide an indication of the space required for roof mounted PV Systems as well. BP Solar’s 5.1 kWp Ground Mounted poly-crystalline array demonstrates poly-crystaline cells, which are lower cost and lower efficiency silicon cell product. They are a fairly ubiquitous product within the PV market and are effectively the baseline for assessment for the project.
Solar Sales’ 6.0 kWp ground-mounted Sunpower panels are the highest efficiency panels currently available on the market – 18 per cent at SOC.
Solar Systems 2*25 kWp (AC) Concentrating Solar PV Tracking dishes will be utilising some world first waterless cooling systems.
M&H Power’s 5.8 kWp Kanecka Amophous ground mounted array will allow viewers a comparison of lower efficiency, but cheaper amorphous thin film panels. The company’s 5 kWp Kanecka Amophous shelter mounted array looks at the integration of amorphous cells into structures such as shade shelters and car ports.
Appeared in issue: EcoGeneration — March/April 2008
Categories: Project, Solar, Technology
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