Solar Progress Issue 1 2013

ISSN: 0729-6436

Access to sunlight Not always that simple Storage options A look at what is around Solar 2013 Conference & Expo Speakers and events Energy Rating Systems Are we achieving the objectives?

03/13

issue 1

The Official Journal of the Australian Solar COUNCIL

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Contents SOLAR PROGRESS is published by CommStrat for the Australian Solar Council (ASC).

Solar Progress subscriptions: contact Anna Washington Executive Assistant, ASC anna@solar.org.au or call 0409 802 707

6 30

Editor Dr Bill Parker Phone: 0403 583 676 editor@solar.org.au Contributors: Steve Blume, Mark Byrne, Greg Combet, Peter Fries, Craig Froome, Paul Meredith, Nigel Morris, Peter Pentland, Priyadarsini Rajagopalan, Rob Selbie, Jenny Sharwood and Wayne Smith.

Contributing editor Nicola Card National Sales Manager Brian Rault Phone: 03 8534 5014 brian.rault@commstrat.com.au Design & production Annette Epifanidis CommStrat Melbourne Level 8, 574 St Kilda Rd Melbourne 3004 Phone: 03 8534 5000 Australian Solar COUNCIL CEO John Grimes PO Box 148, Frenchs Forest NSW 1640 www.solar.org.au ABN 32 006 824 148 CommStrat ABN 31 008 434 802 www.commstrat.com.au Solar Progress was first published in 1980. The magazine aims to provide readers with an in–depth review of technologies, policies and progress towards a society which sources energy from the sun rather than fossil fuels.

Except where specifically stated, the opinions and material published in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher or AuSES Ltd Trading as Australian Solar Council. While every effort is made to check the authenticity and accuracy of articles, neither ASC nor the editors are responsible for any inaccuracy.

Solar Progress is published quarterly. www.solar.org.au

Front cover: This source of energy will run out – eventually.

In about one billion years, water on Earth will not exist as the Sun will have heated up such that terrestrial life will have gone.

Time enough to deploy all the solar technologies we have to hand.

Image courtesy NASA

33 36

Solar Council

Solar One pioneer Peter Fries

30

The vision of one UNSW student

33

STELR in schools

36

Review of solar landscape by ASC CEO and Solar Progress Editor

2

Solar 2013 Conference & Expo

20

The Golden Jubilee Conference

26

Industry developments

Hall of Fame recognises solar power pioneers

28

Wayne Smith takes a look at The RET Review

18

State Branch activity

46

Minister Greg Combet and clean energy

24

Corporate members

48

Solar advances Craig Froome on storage Solomon Islands’ solar program

8 47

News and views Local and global solar developments

4

Nigel Morris compares solar to Icarus

32

Following the Sun book review

35

Fossil Fools, says Peter Fries

38

Special features Solar access versus shade, by Mark Byrne 12

Products and services

A closer look at Energy Rating systems

14

AussieWide Solar, GSES, Regen Power,

Steve Blume on solar funding channels

22

SMA, Solar Clips and SolPac

42

SolarProgress | 1

Bill Parker Editor

John Grimes Chief Executive, Australian Solar Council

The year 2013 is set to be critical for solar in Australia. Coming off another big year for domestic solar – just on 1GW of solar PV was installed in Australia in 2012 – there are some big challenges and opportunities ahead.

Here is just one of them: Solar PV’s Policy Blind Spot There is a gaping policy blind spot when it comes to commercial and industrial scale solar PV in Australia.

Unique in the world, Australia’s policy makers have targeted domestic solar but have ignored the benefits of powering our businesses and factories with solar PV. It is a fundamental mistake, and needs to be fixed.

Unlike domestic customers whose peak electricity usage is in the early evening (during the setting of the sun), commercial uses demand power exactly when the sun is up – during the working day.

When it comes to delaying or eliminating the need for expensive grid infrastructure upgrades, and taking load off the grid during the day, distributed commercial and industrial solar PV is the real ‘low hanging fruit’.

At a time when our leaders are scratching around for ways to cut power bills, this one policy area can make serious inroads into cutting the $120+ billion electricity infrastructure investment now underway.

The rest of the world targets this sector for good reason, and we should too. At the moment the policy argument at the federal level is focused on cutting imagined future costs by reducing federal government support for installations over 10kW (down from the current 100kW).

The focus is all on the cost side, instead of quantifying the potential savings, and where the business case stacks supporting businesses to invest in their own on-site power generation and booking a saving for all power users.

We need to become more sophisticated when it comes to solar policy, and we need to get our political leaders engaged in the substantive issues, and away for the mindset that solar PV subsidies are a basic way to curry favour with the electorate by ‘feeding the chooks’, and nothing more.

John Grimes 2 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

We live in extraordinary times. The Bureau of Meteorology has released data for January from weather stations around the country: (http://www. bom.gov.au/climate/current/special-statements.shtml) with a number of reports and many superlatives across the pages.

The report showing high temperatures is extraordinary, with locations where very high temperatures are normal but many where they are not, and some daytime maximums approaching 50°C . (As I write this in suburban Perth, my max/min thermometer is showing 45°C in the shade.)

The extraordinary rainfall data is contained in another BOM report.

It is not appropriate to relate one weather event (or a month’s pattern) to climate change, but summing the extreme events by their difference from the norm in any one year by extreme, it is valid to test for correlations between that summing and climate change.

NASA is more direct: “NASA scientists say 2012 was the ninth warmest of any year since 1880, continuing a long-term trend of rising global temperatures. With the exception of 1998, the nine warmest years in the 132-year record have occurred since 2000, with 2010 and 2005 ranking as the hottest years on record.”

Is the science of climate change now a lesser issue than bureaucratic and governmental complacency or worse, the clever marginalisation of science? We can do fracking but wind turbines cause actual disease symptoms?

If you were at Swinburne University early last December you would have concluded that solar science is alive and well. Here were the investigators relating their work to the Solar 2012 attendees. All of it in one way or another contributing to global warming mitigation, whether at the laboratory bench or in the business world. We now look forward to Solar 2013 in May. Politics will play a front and centre role during the next seven months, and crucial to the solar industry, its R&D support, and the basic research that goes on, is recognition of the importance and viability of solar technologies.

As 2013 rolls on the high temperatures of January will be forgotten, as might global warming (which might even be bumped off the election agenda).

However, nothing will diminish, or stop the role solar energy plays in moving towards a society that consumes less fossil fuelled energy.

Bill Parker

Printed using FSC® mixed source certified fibre by Printgraphics Pty Ltd under ISO 14001 Environmental Certification.

News and views

Big ticket research collaborations Solar thermal to Next generation UNSW takes power ahead solar cell technology charge Creating solar technology that supplies supply cheap, zero emission, secure energy for Australia and the world ... that is the mission of CSIRO and six Australian universities who are joining forces with US based NREL, Sandia National Laboratories and Arizona State University.

To be known as the Australian Solar Thermal Research Initiative, the $87 million, eight year collaboration which is being led by CSIRO was made possible with ASI and ARENA’s $35 million contribution, and cements Australia’s leading role in global solar research.

ASTRI outcomes could well transform the energy industry in Australia by slashing the cost of solar thermal power in producing electricity, heat and fuels.

Guiding the research will be Dr Manuel Blanco who recently joined CSIRO as Director of ASTRI. The world-renowned solar scientist boasts almost three decades of academic, research and development managerial experience and helped pave the way for Spain’s first commercial solar thermal system.

In an upbeat statement Blanco said “We will reduce the cost of solar thermal to just 12 cents a kilowatt hour by 2020 and provide zero-emission energy to people when they need it.

It’s a technological leap but we will do it. We are working with the best in the world.”

Belectric’s solar downunder

The Australian subsidiary of German-based Belectric has been granted approval for its first solar plant in Australia, a 5MW solar power plant in Mildura, Victoria.

Belectric said this was "The first step toward implementing further solar projects in Australia” and that the company has already signed an agreement with Clean Technology Partners for subsequent projects.

4 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

Still on big picture developments, an historic $35 million Australia–US partnership presents new opportunities for boosting solar cell performance and cost reduction, and aims to foster rapid development of PV technology. To be known as the USAustralia Institute for Advanced Photovoltaics – USAIAP – this is one of the largest solar research investments in Australia’s history and will be led by UNSW. The new Institute combines the expertise of several US Research Centres and universities, Australian universities, the CSIRO, three state governments, Suntech Australia, BT Imaging, Trina Solar Energy and BlueScope Steel.

UNSW Scientia Professor Martin Green said “The Institute will establish Australia as the photovoltaic research and educational hub of the Asia-Pacific region. It combines our expertise with America’s world-class facilities and creates a tangible pipeline to ‘over the horizon’ photovoltaic technology.

“The Institute will also be fundamental to the training of the next generation of photovoltaic research scientists and engineers.”

UNSW is involved in five other significant solar research projects and will take the lead in two: a $5.3 million initiative to develop Tools for design and scale-up of solar thermochemical reactors; and a $6.7 million project to produce low cost, high efficiency copper-zinc-tin-sulphide (CZTS) on silicon multi-junction solar cells.

High level aspirations and top level brain power – a potent mix. Future issues of Solar Progress will focus on solar achievements that pave the way for a clean, green future.

Sunny outlook More than $14 million has been pledged to a suite of solar projects for the CSIRO-led US-Australia solar energy collaboration, the most significant of which is the creation of a $7.6 million solar forecasting system.

(Read all about this progressive step in the next issue of Solar Progress.)

PV streets ahead …

Can you picture yourself driving on roads constructed from glass, PV and re-cycled landfill and compost? Such is the brainchild of Solar Roadways entrepreneurs Scott and June Brusaw, whose “intelligent” asphalt free roads, pavements and driveways are designed to generate power.

Scott Brusaw makes use of many technologies to develop glass that “is tough as steel”, does not shatter, is fire proof, anti-glare and provides traction. By his estimates one kilometre of his solar roadway would generate enough power for about 265 homes and significantly reduce greenhouse gases.

His prototype 12 x 12 foot panels include three white and three yellow LEDs which send signals to microprocessors to generate ‘text’

traffic warnings for road users, eliminating the need for traditional road signs. LEDs could also be used to ‘paint’ road lines from beneath and light up roads during night time, and with the addition of a heating element would have the capacity to melt snow and ice.

The multi-faceted Solar Roadways model also factors in recharging of all-electric vehicles to help sever dependency on oil.

As Brusaw states “We cannot keep building petroleum based asphalt roads, it’s antiquated.”

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News and views

Europe soars ahead in solar

Fall in love with Solar –

says Greg Evans of Perfect Match

Valentine’s Day saw a public show of solar affection by former Perfect Match host and marriage celebrant Greg Evans, who performed a novel commitment ceremony by marrying “cheated on” electricity users to an Energy Matters solar panel.

The media stunt was staged to highlight the massive price hikes to energy bills over the past five years.

“It’s time to save money, use our abundant Australian sunshine and find a sustainable energy solution without being held to ransom … I’m a bit of an expert when it comes to relationships and I think we’re being had,” said the man who is the latest celebrity to catch the solar love bug.

Westpac’s

$8 billion, five-year Sustainability Strategy In a move designed to address “society’s most pressing issues”, Westpac is targeting three areas for lendings: Demographic and cultural change; Identifying new avenues of wealth creation, and Economic solutions for environmental challenges The bank is pledging $2 billion to lending for social and affordable housing and $6 billion in lending to the clean technology and environmental services sector. Saying that the environment and the economy are “often seen at odds”, Westpac’s focus will be on providing innovative solutions to enable customers to “manage environmental outcomes” and presenting specific support for the CleanTech and environmental services sector.

Bunbury correction

In our last issue (10/12) it was incorrectly stated that Bunbury Sports Facility’s evacuated tubes absorb both solar energy and UV; however the only energy that can be used is in the short wave IR between 0.5 and 5.5 microns. The evacuated tubes were also said to be up to 80% more efficient whereas they are up to 95% efficient compared to flat plate collectors, with a 70% maximum efficiency most commonly achieved.

6 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

Overdeveloped,

overshadowed

As the trend to develop high-rise, high-density living around urban transport hubs continues, so does the battle for space and sunlight.

In Victoria, where more homes are being blocked in by multi-storey developments, new laws could be developed to protect homes fitted with solar panels from being overshadowed; a move that would reduce ad-hoc decisions by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

“There [needs] to be consistent and clear guidance on a statewide basis to create greater certainty about what might be regarded as acceptable impacts," said a VCAT member.

"This would be of great benefit to affected landowners, proponents of new developments and decision-makers."

Victorian Planning Provisions state that new buildings should be positioned and designed to ensure energy efficiency of existing dwellings on adjoining lots is not unreasonably reduced, but in one unhappy case taken to VCAT the loss of solar power was estimated at between 50 to 70% which was decreed “unreasonable”.

The Clean Energy Council hailed the tribunal decision “significant” and said it was imperative for developers to consider shadowing in projects.

Italy has leapfrogged Germany to become the most solar-powered industrialised nation in the world, supplying 5.6% of the country’s electricity demand in 2012.

Italian solar power, which is almost entirely PV, produced a total of 18.3 TWh of energy last year, up a massive 72% on 2011 output and pushing solar capacity in Italy to 17GW from around 470,000 rooftop PV systems. The 2012 figures give rise to optimistic forecasts of 7% solar production during 2013.

Meanwhile Spain’s share of solar rose to 4%, a quarter of which stemmed from its large-scale solar thermal power stations supplying power 24/7.

Housing one third of the world's solar panels, Germany clocks up a 4.8% share of solar in the electricity supply.

Data reveals countries outside Europe added more than 13 GW of solar capacity last year, compared with less than 8 GW in 2011, the strong suits being China, the US and Japan.

For its not insignificant part, Australia added about 1 GW of solar PV last year, lifting the country's capacity about 70% to 2.4 GW. Demand this year is anticipated between 840 MW to 1 GW.

Embark on a plan In three years’ time the top of Sydney Convention Centre will undergo a transformation with the installation of a 400 kW rooftop community solar farm.

Due for completion in 2016, the Sydney Community Solar collaboration between Embark and Lend Lease will enable local residents to invest in the solar project, and is described as “a highly visible example of medium scale solar PV”.

Embark is a NFP organisation that helps communities create and participate in renewable energy projects, emphasising they can benefit from new clean energy without relying on subsidies.

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*SOURCE: Australian PV – Technology and Brands Report 2013 by Solar Business Services.

Solar Advances

Storage options for grid connected PV It is often said that storage is the limiting factor in the wider deployment of photovoltaics and other forms of intermittent generation. Given this intermittency, and the prominent role of solar and wind supply in the future renewables roadmap, will Australia’s 20% Renewable Energy Target be achieved by 2020? What are our options? In this article, Craig Froome and Paul Meredith review storage for grid connected PV.

The energy storage industry within Australia is still fairly immature with only a small number of distributors and even a smaller number of manufacturers and R&D effort. Many of the larger international companies have shown little interest due to the current size of the market within Australia.

Numerous countries are establishing ambitious renewable energy portfolio targets similar to Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET), requiring a portfolio target of 20% by 2020. With the most viable renewable technologies being intermittent in nature, reaching a target in excess of 15% may not be possible without storage. Given the relative lack of relevant storage activity in Australia, this may be a particular problem for us.

The distribution network providers, seeing and understanding the grid issues with intermittent (and particularly distributed) generation are now showing substantial interest in storage. This, coupled with both the Renewable Energy Target and state based feed-in tariffs for PV, is increasing deployment. The questions now arising are centred around how to best use the energy generated with the time of generation not necessarily matching network demand.

Significant penetration of solar and other renewable energy sources into the national grid will highlight a number of operational concerns over maintaining system power balance. With the proliferation of large scale solar penetration into the grid, electricity networks will become two-way power flow systems. Sudden changes in weather conditions

8 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

can cause big power fluctuations within several seconds. Because the conventional generation has to be uncommitted to allow usage of solar and other energy sources, the sudden power deficit may not be easy to compensate quickly. This is predicted to result in power system instability and poor power quality problems having an impact on operating reserve, imbalance in energy, and voltage and frequency regulation of the grid.

Therefore, these technical issues need to be addressed within the existing distribution network systems.

Available Electrical Storage Technologies It is possible for energy storage to be used to improve system responsiveness, reliability and flexibility or for load levelling and peak shaving. It is these issues which are of greatest interest to the distribution companies. Whilst there are various storage options, those technologies that can be best utilised by solar energy rather than renewable energy systems as a whole are of greatest current interest because of the rapid growth of PV penetration.

The obvious need for storage in applications such as PV is not the only motivation for its widespread deployment. Many other consumption and peak-related issues would almost certainly also benefit from having a local reactive storage resource. For example, recent research indicates that there is a 40% probability of a summer peak load reduction if commercial customers would be able to deploy appropriate storage. Also highlighted in this research were alternative uses of stored energy including: i) local load management; ii) utility load management and; iii) emergency critical load management.

Ultimately, the choice of storage technology will be guided by: 1. Energy efficiency 2. Environmental impact 3. Location dependence 4. Lifetime 5. Economics, and 6. Space and weight requirements Looking initially at battery storage options, both lead-acid and nickelcadmium batteries are made from toxic substances, so if considering from a life-cycle viewpoint, these would cause some degree of concern with disposal and recycling. Sodium and lithium-based batteries are suitable for large-scale projects, but it is critical to consider the ability of the technology to “scale-up” based on the demand needs of where

Nickel-Cadmium Sodium based

Lithium based

RedFlow Ecoult NGK Insulators GE MES DEA SAFT Li-Tec BYD Company EnerSys OxisEnergy

B. Flow Batteries Zinc-Bromide

Vanadium Redox Organic Acid Other

RedFlow ZBB Corporation Premium Power Prudent Energy Plurion Enstorage Inc. Extreme Power Deeya Power

C. Supercapacitors SAFT Li-Tec BYD Company EnerSys OxisEnergy Three types of storage technologies with a partial list of suppliers (bold indicates Australian presence)

10,000 1,000

Long Duration Fly Wheels

Li-ion

Ni-Cd

Better for Energy Management Applications

Lead-Acid

Supplier

High Power Fly Wheels

100

Technology

High Power E.C. Capacitors

Lead-Acid Batteries NaS Battery

Zinc-Air Bat.

Rechargeable Long Duration E.C. Capacitors

Flow Batteries CAES

Pumped Hydro Metal-Air Batteries

Better for UPS & Power Quality Application 10

Option A. Batteries

CAPITAL COST PER UNIT ENERGY – $/kWh – OUTPUT Cost / Capacity / Efficiency

the storage is being deployed. The economics and lifetime of competing technologies has been highlighted as an area for future research, with deployment of flow batteries currently considered the preferred option.

Deployment of storage technology on the UQ 1.22MW PV array at the Brisbane St Lucia campus is an interesting case study highlighting these considerations. In the first instance flywheel technologies and super capacitors were not considered because of their limited ability to store energy (periods up to one hour).

The better options for the UQ project appeared to be lithium-ion (Li-ion), sodium sulphur (NaS) and zebra (Na-NiCl2) batteries. However, manufacturing capacity and the ability to scale-up to utility level is questionable locally. Flow-battery designs utilising different chemistries include polysulphide bromide (PSB), zinc bromide (ZnBr), cerium zinc (CeZn) and vanadium redox (VRB). The major disadvantage of flow battery systems is the additional capital and running costs.

A number of the above technologies for energy storage have already been deployed internationally, although we believe that current technologies support the use of lead-acid, sodium-sulphur, nickel-metalhydride, zinc bromide, lithium-ion and vanadium redox storage systems.

A key consideration for the UQ array application was the fact that both zinc-bromide and lithium based batteries were locally available at a scale to meet the project design requirements. A review of local suppliers, together with consideration of research potential to scale a prototype to utility scale resulted in the zinc bromide battery being selected for the project.

For a University the research benefits of testing various systems generally outweighs economic decisions, but the same rules do not apply to large-scale deployment by utilities. Therefore it is important to consider both the life and cost of the competing technologies.

100

300

1,000

3,000

10,000

CAPITAL COST PER UNIT POWER – $/kW

The most recent information prepared by the US Energy Storage Association (2009) based on capital costs in 2002 and the anticipated reduction of those costs as technology matured indicates that both sodium-sulphate and flow batteries will have a similar cost structure.

While the lead-acid and sodium based batteries are relatively inexpensive, they only have a life expectancy of 10 years compared to flow batteries which have an expected life of 30 years, resulting in the cost per kilowatt being similar over the life of the battery. Further, the market anticipates that these costs will come down even further as the technology matures. (This could lead to decision makers adopting leastcost technology in the short-term, while waiting for economies of scale in emerging technologies.)

Using data from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), we have modeled the medium growth scenario for battery deployment.

Preliminary indications show that the cost of battery storage, which is dependent on the technology choice, is approximately $1 million/MWh, making large-scale deployment in the near future unlikely.

The target price for significant deployment in a PV scenario is thought to be of the order of $750,000/MWh (although this has changed through innovation and competition since the original research article was published).

SolarProgress | 9

Solar Advances

An extension of our research with this initial ZnBr deployment will be to review current actual costs of the competing technologies based on a typical installation within Australia, commencing with the University of Queensland flow battery study.

However, as noted earlier, this will be limited due to the number of active participants within the Australian market and the diverse range of technology options.

As has been suggested, “renewables can do for energy what micro-chip driven computers have done for information� (Hall (2008) Energy Policy 36). However it is unlikely that this will occur without efficient storage options to remove the intermittency of the renewable energy resource that is so freely available and demonstration sites made available so that the network companies can model the implications to both new and existing infrastructure.

The current research at The University of Queensland will provide the opportunity to assess the ability of storage to remove much of the criticism directed to intermittent renewable technologies, while also determining how storage can be best used within a distributed energy system.

The University of Queensland deployed a 1.22 MW Photovoltaic (PV) array at the St Lucia Campus in 2011 looking at not only energy generation and reduction of its carbon footprint, but also at building on research and teaching opportunities within the renewable energy sector. The ability to model the advantages of energy storage under a range of scenarios within this array provides a number of opportunities. A RedFlow M90 zinc bromine flow battery system was added to the array in 2012.

This article is an abridged version of a paper presented at Solar2010, the 48th AuSES Annual Conference 1-3 December 2010, Canberra, Australia, and is available on-line at www.solar.org.au/solarpedia 10 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

Special Feature

How not to feel

overshadowed

When ABC presenter Geraldine Doogue installed solar panels on her roof while there was a feed-in tariff in NSW, she was expecting credits on her bills of around $150. Instead, she received a credit of only 43 cents. When energy consultant Nigel Morris looked at her panels for an episode of Radio National’s Saturday Extra in August last year, he noticed that her panels were being overshadowed by a neighbour’s skyward extensions. What to do? Move the panels, he suggested. Mark Byrne examines how far we have to go to achieve perpetual solar access.

12 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

Not everyone has the roof space or the money to move PV systems – and they shouldn’t have to. This is where solar access rights come in. They are essentially an extension of long-standing property rights — to peace and quiet, for instance, or to prevent trespass — to guaranteed access to sunlight.

Views have not traditionally been protected by legislation or the common law, and generally access to sunshine hasn’t been protected in Australia. State governments have only recently begun introducing legislation to prohibit tall hedges or trees from blocking views or access to sunlight, but even then, the right protected is to sunlight through windows into houses, not onto roofs.

It sounds simple — just ensure adequate setback from boundaries, ban overshadowing of roofs, or guarantee a set number of hours of sunlight per day — but as these three options hint, it isn’t. When you get down to designing a standard, it can get complicated. For setbacks to work they depend on the height of buildings and the pitch of roofs also being restricted; and it depends on their orientation too. You can ban overshadowing where one house exists and neighbouring land isn’t yet built on, but this is not the most common situation.

The most common proposed guarantee — 6 hours of sunlight between 9 am and 3 pm in mid-winter — does not correspond to the period of maximum household demand. To be comprehensive, controls need to apply to vegetation and signs as well as walls, chimneys and roofs. And so on.

As a result, there has been little legislation to protect solar access, and most protections, such as they are in Australian law, have tended to be either in local planning instruments or in codes or standards that lack legal force or

that use words like “consider”, “excessive” and “minimise” that are open to interpretation, with decisions usually favouring those with the money to hire lawyers.

The situation is better in some US states, with the Californian Civil Code, for instance, deciding that since promoting renewable energy is good public policy, adequate access to sunlight to operate solar energy systems should be protected and facilitated. More specifically, that state’s Solar Shade Control Act of 1978 provides for a maximum shadow of ten per cent between 10 am and 2 pm by trees on any solar collector on adjacent land.

But what about overshadowing by buildings, provision for future solar systems, or the impact of sloping land on shadowing?

Other states such as New Mexico and Wyoming have gone further by applying the principles governing water law to declare solar access a property right, but the extent of this right and its impact on the development of neighbouring land are still being worked out in litigation.

A hypothetical solar fence in the ACT The best response in Australia so far has been in the ACT. It adopts the idea of a hypothetical solar fence. This means that no building or tree can be erected or planted on one block of land where the effect will be to cast a shadow on neighbouring land longer than the shadow cast by an imaginary fence of a designated height on the property boundary line between specified hours in mid-winter. It is probably the simplest approach, although it has problems coping with sloping land and high density areas.

Recent changes to the ACT’s Territory Plan apply a hypothetical solar fence 1.8 metres high to southern property boundaries. Because the sun is only 32 degrees above the horizon at midday in midwinter in Canberra, any new building to the north of this 1.8 metre fence must sit under the 32 degree envelope. For

properties facing north-east or north-west, this increases up to 42 degrees. The hypothetical solar fence is 3.5 metres high for side boundaries, where the envelope increases to 45 degrees.

Turn around The apathy of other Australian governments will need to change if we are to encourage more people to reduce their use of fossil fuelled electricity and to become responsible for their own power supply. We also need to think beyond discrete solar panels to a future with more building-integrated solar power — not only using PV panels as roofing tiles but also PV-integrated windows and paints. This will create greater flexibility in where and how we can generate power from our own houses and offices, but most of these emerging technologies have lower efficiency factors than good old flat panel PVs, so access rights will still be required.

Make a difference If you want to help this process along, make a submission to the NSW planning white paper in February and March – see www.planning.

Typical building envelope. Side or rear boundary. Northern boundary of an adjoining or residential block. X° can be 32° - 42°of an adjoining or residential block.

X° can be 32° - 42° nsw.gov.au for details. The TEC will be asking for a high-level state policy covering renewable energy in general (so wind farms, for instance, are not subject to much stricter controls than coal mines or coal seam gas wells) and a statutory right to solar access in particular. We will probably advocate adopting the ACT model in NSW as well.

About the author Mark Byrne is Energy Market Advocate at the Total Environment Centre and is a former urban planner.

This article draws on Adrian Bradbrook’s paper Solar access law: 30 years on Environmental Planning Law Journal (2010, (27), 5), and the NSW EDO’s briefing note to the TEC on solar access. Adrian Bradbrook also authored Solar Energy and the Law, The Law Book Company, 1984.

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Special Feature

Building Energy Rating Systems The building sector consumes around 30–40% of the primary energy in most developed countries and is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

Governments all around the world find themselves at a critical time with regard to the way they utilise energy. The past 10-15 years have seen an upsurge of initiatives in different parts of the world and energy performance rating has become widespread. Priyadarsini Rajagopalan examines this critical area.

Benefits of Rating The energy performance of a building is the calculated or measured amount of energy needed to meet the energy demand of a building. Energy performance rating and minimum energy performance standards allow promotion of energy efficient buildings.

The benefits also include achieving greenhouse gas emission targets and reduction of capital investment in the expansion of energy grid for the nation as well as reduced energy bills and improved comfort for users.

A rated building can get special recognition, which helps to increase its resale value and rental income and sends a positive message to tenants, customers and occupants. Rating can also help to identify poorly performing buildings appropriate for retrofitting.

Rating Methods Energy rating can be broadly classified into two: asset rating that is based on data derived from design drawings and specifications; or an operational rating based on actual energy consumption.

Asset ratings are seen to be most appropriate for new buildings and operational rating is more effective for existing buildings.

Prescriptive standards that set separate performance levels for major envelope and equipment components, such as minimum thermal resistance of walls, are used more frequently due to their easier enforcement.

Existing buildings can be rated by operational performance based on annual energy consumption, whereas new buildings

14 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

as well as buildings at design stages generally follow asset rating.

Asset ratings performed through calculation can be inaccurate during the building design process. This is due to the fact that energy modeling is typically done for code compliance but may not produce realistic predictions on how a building performs during operation.

Using simulation for asset rating can be expensive as it requires a great number of inputs, skilled users and a significant amount of time to gather the necessary data.

For existing buildings, measured consumption can be obtained from energy bills or monitoring. Energy bills give easy access to energy consumption by energy source, although it is difficult to establish a split by end-uses.

Sub-metering can be installed to identify the energy consumption by end-users and this helps to understand inefficiencies existing in individual systems and suggest specific improvements rather than stating building’s overall energy use intensity.

Several rating schemes combine indoor environmental performance with building energy performance.

However, these methodologies require expensive and time-consuming methods and processes such as measurements of indoor environmental parameters, monitoring building air-conditioning systems, etc. that is complicated and need intensive site measurement for a number of days.

Few countries have set up mandatory energy standards for new dwellings and service sector buildings. Though mandatory implementation

can increase the impact considerably, it may not be easy to implement.

There are considerable commonalities and variations in the rating methodologies of different countries. In most cases, rating begins with the collection of relevant data for the development of a comprehensive benchmark.

Subsequently, Energy use per unit area per year or energy-usage intensity (EUI), the most commonly used indicator needs to be defined.

The next step involves determination of EUI and this can be calculated using simulations or obtained thorough energy bills or measured using metered data.

This is followed by setting the limit for energy efficiency with respect to building types and climate. The EUI is then compared with a sample of similar buildings in terms of type, climate energy sources, etc. A number of energy efficiency measures that have long term and short term payback period may be recommended subsequently.

Progress in Australia The energy used by Australian buildings accounts for approximately 20% of Australia’s GHG emissions, split fairly evenly between homes and commercial buildings. At present, energy efficiency building standards in Australia are relatively less rigorous than similar countries.

One of the national strategies is improving the efficiency of new buildings and major renovations by increasing the energy efficiency requirements in the update of the National Construction Code (NCC).

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Special Feature

Commercial Sector The National Australian Built Environmental Ratings Scheme (NABERS), first launched in 1998, was originally developed as an energy efficiency rating tool for office buildings and now they are available for shopping centres, hotels and homes.

The tools for Energy, Water, Waste and Indoor Environment measure the operational performance and environmental impact of existing buildings, comparing them with other buildings.

Rating is performed by a NABERS Accredited Assessor. An office building’s total energy use for a 12-month period is collected from billing data and meter readings.

16 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

Conclusion There are several barriers that may affect building industry’s uptake of energy efficiency measures.

The main barriers include cost, and time.

Mandatory implementation can substantially increase the number of participants, but may be difficult to implement for economic or political reasons.

The success of building rating schemes will certainly depend on the cost effectiveness of the schemes and the credibility achieved by real energy savings. Supporting follow up measures are needed to ensure that rating impacts on the targeted market.

Rating should not be a static scheme and needs to be evaluated regularly. In order to achieve further advancements in energy efficiency, rating should progress with time and contribute quantifiably to the energy efficiency targets of the country.

gHg intensity (kgCO2-e/m2)

200 150 100 50 0

1

1.5

2

2.5

Adelaide Canberra Hobart Perth

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

5.5

6

Zero Emissions

Brisbane Darwin Melbourne Sydney

Cumulative distribution Curve for benChmarking 100% 90% Percentile (%)

80%

Environmental Rating Systems Environmental rating tools are based on criteria that can be used at all phases of development including design, construction and operations vary widely and include building management, the health and well-being of its occupants, accessibility to public transport, water use, energy consumption, the embodied energy of its materials, land use, pollution, etc. Points awarded for each category are weighted to calculate an overall score.

Green Star, administered by the Green Building Council of Australia is a national voluntary rating system that evaluates the environmental design and construction of buildings.

A Green Star assessment methodology to address the performance of existing buildings, known as ‘Green Star-Performance’ is being developed and aims to incorporate NABERS into the Green Star – performance tool to avoid duplication of measurements.

250

70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 0

50

100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 eui (kWh/m2/year)

EnErgy pErformancE in normal conditions.

frequency

The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) provides a framework that allows various computer software tools to rate the potential energy efficiency of Australian homes.

The NatHERS was initiated in 1993 to provide a standardized approach in rating the thermal performance of Australian homes.

To achieve this star rating for a house, several factors are taken into consideration, such as passive design, window positioning and also heating, cooling and water management systems of the dwelling.

In May 2008, legislation was passed stating that if a renovation or extension for a dwelling is 50 per cent of the original volume of the building, only the new or extended part must comply with the five-star standard, and where the renovation or extension is 50% or more of the original volume, then the whole building must comply with the five-star standard.

The state government of Victoria implemented legislation for all new houses to achieve a six-star rating from May 2011.

Unique star bands are set for each climate zone taking into account the extremes of the local weather conditions. Each star band set has been developed by specifying the maximum energy consumption per unit area (MJ/m2) to allow comparisons of building within and between climate zones.

Nabers buildiNg ratiNg 300

Energy usage intensity (kWh/m2 EnErgy pErformancE aftEr introducing pErformancE codEs.

frequency

Residential Sector

The energy use is multiplied by the constant NABERS GHG factor.

The NABERS GHG factor stays constant from year to year so that ratings can be compared over time.

The energy use is also adjusted to account for area, climate, hours of occupancy and equipment density. This enables buildings with very different attributes to be compared against the same performance targets.

The corrected figure, called the benchmark factor, puts the building on similar levels with other buildings in the same geographic location.

Energy usage intensity (kWh/m2

EnErgy pErformancE in thE labElling approach.

frequency

Commercial Building Disclosure (CBD) is another national program designed to improve the energy efficiency of Australia’s large office buildings. From November 2010 onwards, commercial and government buildings ≥2000m2 are required to disclose the energy efficiency.

In addition, Australian state and territory governments have proposed requiring owners of existing houses, flats and apartments to provide energy, water and greenhouse performance information when selling or leasing their properties.

Energy usage intensity (kWh/m2

Policy tools can help to reduce the amount of energy needed to obtain a better performance. Considering the global building stock, buildings normally follow a bell-shaped curve. Performance codes set minimum criteria which are relatively easy to achieve and push the population towards the right resulting in a negatively skewed distribution. Rating and Labelling however, helps to push a large number of buildings towards the left, resulting in a positively skewed distribution.

Further information Lee, SE, & Rajagopalan, P (2008). Building energy efficiency labelling programme in Singapore. Energy Policy, 36, 3982–3992.

Rajagopalan, P and Leung Tony (2012), Progress on Building Energy Labelling Techniques, Advances in Building Energy Research, 6:1, 61-80.

Dr Priyadarsini Rajagopalan is a Senior Lecturer at Deakin University

Industry Developments

Review of the

Renewable Energy Target

Industry consultant Wayne Smith examines the fine-print of the RET Review and outlines the short- and long-term scenario for Big and not-so-big Solar to identify a series of missed opportunities for rational solutions.

The final report of the Review of the Renewable Energy Target (RET Review) presents some significant opportunities and challenges for Australia’s solar industry, and in its recommendations you can see some of the core themes for the solar industry in 2013.

The RET Review was undertaken by the independent Climate Change Authority, under a timeline outlined in legislation. It included a thorough, independent public consultation process, including the release of a draft Discussion Paper. The Australian Solar Council was heavily involved in this process.

For the solar industry, there were three key recommendations in the RET Review: • That the RET should be reviewed every four years, rather than every two years as is currently required; • The Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET) should be maintained at 41,000 gigawatt hours in 2020; • The Small-scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES) should remain separate to the LRET but be amended so that: - the threshold for PV systems in the SRES “be reduced from 100 kilowatts to, say, 10 kilowatts … the Commonwealth Government [should] conduct further consultations with stakeholders to determine an appropriate threshold.

Units over the small-scale threshold

18 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

would be included in the LRET, with five year certificate deeming”; - the SRES is phased out by 2030 by reducing the level of deeming on an annual basis.

Each of these recommendations will now be considered by the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet, and he is likely to respond by the end of March 2013.

It is worth exploring the implications of these recommendations in some detail.

Big Solar The recommendation to maintain the LRET provides some certainty for the Big Solar industry and represents a sound defeat for the vested interests and powerful forces that wanted to abolish or slash the LRET. The Climate Change Authority has demonstrated Australia cannot afford to go backwards in its support for clean energy. It needs to embrace a new, cleaner economy if it is to remain internationally competitive in an increasingly carbon constrained future.

Unfortunately, business as usual is no longer an option given the demands of climate change science, and the Climate Change Authority failed to set an appropriate, more ambitious Renewable Energy Target. Future generations will be a harsh judge of a review that failed to increase the target in the face of evidence the planet could experience a 4-6 degree

temperature rise by the end of the century. The World Bank has indicated this could trigger “a cascade of cataclysmic changes”.

The Climate Change Authority is now reviewing Australia’s emissions reduction target for 2020 and a pathway to that target, with an Issues Paper to be released in April 2013. A strong emissions reduction target would be consistent with climate science, and would provide an additional incentive for investment in renewable energy.

The Australian Solar Council has argued, and will continue to argue that, at the very least, renewable energy projects supported by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation should be additional to the RET. This is no trifling matter. Independent modeling commissioned by the Australian Solar Council and WWF showed the CEFC and the RET could deliver 11 gigawatts of Big Solar by 2030. More than 30% of Australia’s electricity could come from largescale renewable energy alone by 2030, if the CEFC was additional to the RET (both are conservative figures).

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation is absolutely critical for Big Solar in Australia, but it is currently opposed by the Federal Coalition.

The solar industry must campaign hard in 2013 to ensure it is supported by all political parties.

The battle to maintain the LRET in its current modest form is not over. Less than 24 hours

“Unfortunately, business as usual is no longer an option given the demands of climate change science … Future generations will be a harsh judge of a review that failed to increase the [renewable energy] target in the face of evidence the planet could experience a 4-6 degree temperature rise by the end of the century.” after the RET Review was released, the Business Council of Australia was again calling on the Coalition to commit to slashing the renewables target. The RET has strong bipartisan support, but powerful vested interests remain committed to destroying the RET. This will again be a key battle in 2013.

Commercial Solar The Climate Change Authority’s recommendations on commercial solar have the potential to stop the industry in its tracks before it has even started. At the very least, the proposal to move solar systems smaller than 100 kilowatts – and as small as 10 kilowatts – into the LRET will put the industry on hold until there is some certainty, and will inevitably put a short-term freeze on commercial, off-grid and remote solar projects. It is hard to see the public policy benefit of that.

The truth is no one knows the long-term implications of changing the size threshold for the SRES and the LRET. We don’t know what this will mean long-term for the solar industry or the wind industry, which drive the LRET, so this sort of meddling can only deliver unintended consequences.

What we do know is that systems above 10 kilowatts represent just 2% of the solar market, and those above 50 kilowatts are an infinitesimally small part of the market.

There is, therefore, no need to make this change and even if this sector was to grow substantially, there is a range of measures that could be put in place at the time to deal with the cost implications for the SRES. This is yet another area where the solar industry will need to undertake detailed analysis and strong advocacy. If we’re serious about tackling climate change, we should be putting solar on the plentiful roofs of our schools, factories and shopping centres and in our remote communities. There are already enough barriers to making this happen, we don’t need another one.

Residential Solar The Climate Change Authority has recommended winding back support for residential solar, but the proposals are nowhere near as extreme as those canvassed in the Discussion Paper, thanks largely to concerted lobbying by the solar industry. The CCA has recommended ending the SRES in 2030, and all solar businesses should now work on that basis.

The CCA has also recommended phasing out deeming from 2017, so that each year from that date there is one year less support provided up front. This is a superficially attractive way to phase out the SRES, and if the process begins five years from now it won’t impact on any current business plans.

The deeming phase-out, like a good magic trick, may not, however, be what it seems. A recommended timeline, let alone a legislated timeframe, is not set in stone, and can be changed at a political whim.

Within minutes of the RET Review being released, the Energy Supply Association of Australia – headed by Matthew Warren, the former CEO of the Clean Energy Council – had called for the phase-out of deeming to be fast-tracked. “2017 is too late”, screamed the ESAA, calling for the phase-out to begin earlier and for the timeline to be much reduced.

The solar industry should oppose the phaseout of deeming or it might just be left with a whole new solarcoaster ride, echoing the scary Solar Multiplier experience.

There are challenges and opportunities for the solar industry in responding to the RET Review. 2013 is a federal election year – the perfect time to unleash the powerful political constituency represented by Australia’s love for solar. Australians want more solar, not less.

Australians want more clean energy, not less, and Australians will be looking to political parties to deliver this outcome.

Wayne Smith is Director of Clean Economy Services E: wayne.smith@cleaneconomyservices.com.au T: @CleanEconomySer

SolarProgress | 19

Solar 2013 Conference

SOLAR 2013 CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION Solar 2013 - presented by the Australian Solar Council and international partner Australian PV Solar Energy Exhibition (AUPVSEE) - will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Thursday May 23 and Friday May 24, 2013. www.solarexhibition.com.au

Solar 2013 Conference program This free to attend event will feature: • A two-day professional conference stream • A two-day installer/designer professional development stream, and • An extensive industry exhibition, with more than 100 exhibitors Last year more than 1700 delegates attended this premier networking and business event. This year we expect over 2000 delegates will attend, making this a ‘must attend’ networking event.

Registration is free of charge, but is essential for all delegates and is available via the event website: www.solarexhibition.com.au Designed by the Australian Solar Council, the Solar 2013 Conference will provide the latest up to date information on the solar, renewable energy and energy efficiency industries.

The Conference will host a continuous stream of presentations from industry experts, covering diverse topics from current policy and market analysis, to financing of industry projects and industry case studies and best practice.

Day one The Plenary Session will include Industry Keynote Presentations from Chief Executives of Platinum Sponsors Solar Inception and Hareon Solar.

We will review 2013 Solar Policy with Wayne Smith, Chief Executive, Clean Economy Services and Analyse Certificate Prices and Outlook with Ric Brazzale, Managing Director, Green Energy Trading. During the afternoon sessions we will discuss Global Trends in Solar, and Solar Micro Inverters and Monitoring.

Diary date Solar 2013 Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre Thursday May 23 and Friday May 24, 2013.

Wayne Smith

20 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

John Grimes

Professional Development Stream In addition, we are working with the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) to deliver a fantastic retailer and solar installer/ designer program and forum. This program will focus on technical and specific product issues and is being designed by long-term leading industry experts, Brian England, Steve Ingrouille and Kim Atkinson.

The Professional Development Session on day one will begin with a morning spent focusing on current industry issues, then moving on to an Open Forum, before afternoon presentations which focus on the nitty gritty of Warranty and Liability, Performance Statements, System Financing Options.

Day two The day two Plenary Session kicks off with Keynote addresses from the major parties in this election year, followed by morning presentations by the Clean Energy Regulator and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency with the afternoon sessions focusing on Energy Efficiency.

Day two Professional Development Stream

Ric Brazzale of GET

Day two Professional Development Session presentations will open with the Australian Solar Council presentation on Best Practice and Design Case studies, and then move to Battery Back Up, Data Logging, Audit Reports, and Network Penetration Issues.

“Don’t miss this important industry program - join in and share your thoughts at the open forums, discuss current industry concerns and issues, and address the future outlook for the solar industry.”

The Solar 2013 Exhibition provides the opportunity to network directly with policy makers, industry players, experts and consumers.

There will be a wide range of Australian manufacturers exhibiting and supporting organisations include BOSCH, Green Energy Trading, Infinity Solar, IT Power, SEIA, Solar 360, Solar Max, Solar Plus and WINAICO. We are also pleased to confirm that RenewEconomy is our Solar 2013 Official Online Partner, along with Media Partners: Energy, Source & Distribution, Solar Progress, Sustainability Matters and ECD Solutions.

Conference info and updates Please refer to the event website for more information on Solar 2013 Conference and Exhibition: www.solarexhibition.com.au

SolarProgress | 21

Special feature

Financing Solar Part two of a series in which Steve Blume reviews anomalies and inconsistencies in the energy market and addresses funding models.

In my article in Solar Progress (10/12 Spring issue) I discussed the barriers faced by those in the solar industry, from households and businesses to utility scale investors, when seeking funding for their solar generation system.

There is a range of factors which constrain access to funds, a primary one being the scale of upfront capital needed for a solar generation facility at any size. It is a high value front end investment followed by low and predictable maintenance and operational costs with the benefit being derived from an energy input cost of zero, namely solar radiation.

In all countries, particularly Australia, regulatory barriers present huge impediments to new players of all generation types, especially solar and other renewables. In my last article I concluded:

There is one disruption to our energy markets which could transform the whole industry, not just the electricity market. That requires no more than a simple business 101 change to how we deal in energy. Worldwide, companies make a profit by selling the raw products that none of us need or use those products to create energy sources: coal and gas to electricity and oil to petrol, and so on. What if those products were made inputs to the services we actually use – to heat our homes and our hot water, run our cars and other machinery?

A paradigm that has had its day Worldwide we have a market structure for energy which has always seemed odd to me. Why do I think it odd? Because the products sold and regulated are not really what the vast majority of customers want. With some industrial exceptions such as aluminium smelting, end consumers are overwhelmingly seeking the outputs of energy use and are not interested in the source of the energy. Energy sales is a huge market with massive regulatory controls, all based on the simple idea for suppliers: the more energy we sell the more money we make.

We now know that making energy using fossil fuels is unsustainable because of pollution (global warming) and finite resources. The scenario is similar in nuclear power, with its intractable waste management and uninsurable risk of catastrophic failures. Any alternatives which might mitigate those risks, such as thorium fusion technologies, are too far off to be viable options to counter the threat of global warming.

At one level that seems innocuous and amenable to a technical solution – rapidly replace fossil fuels with renewables – then we can continue to

22 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

make more money by selling more energy. We have no other path than renewables regardless of the political views of some; all new electricity generating facilities must use renewable sources. The recent Bloomberg assessments http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-06/australia-windenergy-cheaper-than-coal-natural-gas-bnef-says.html have confirmed what much of the world of commerce already knows: that even without real prices on pollution the technology learning curves have taken renewables right into the mainstream.

Storage technologies, grid improvements and a multitude of other changes are driving electricity generation to a renewables future. Liquid fuels as energy sources are another issue and one needing more complex solutions, but even here renewable electricity generators will likely play a primary role in syngas production as well as other biofuels http://www. scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=microbe-uses-solar-electricity-tobuild-liquid-fuel .

However there remains that disconnect between end users who are forced to buy a ‘product’ – electricity – when they seek a range of useful services.

They want lighting, heating and cooling, they want hot water (usually at no more than 50oC), and they want to be able to use their appliances inside the house and in their sheds and work rooms and in their businesses.

The market for electricity is broken – it creates a product which is not governed by the forces usually in play to drive down the prices to the consumer, but one which simply offers those able to participate a guaranteed rate of return. This is largely because they have no pressure to reduce input costs – the regulatory environment allows these to be passed directly through to consumers.

“We have no other path than renewables regardless of the political views of some; all new electricity generating facilities must use renewable sources.”

Let’s get off the roulette wheel The market needs to change so that the product being sold matches consumer needs – and that means that energy should be properly accounted for as an input cost to the delivery of services. The simple switch to make energy an input cost to a set of services creates a fundamental change to the market dynamic because the business incentive becomes what we need it to be: the lower the input cost the higher the profit and the bigger the incentive to get the most efficient energy production. I am making the critical assumption here that all costs are internalised in that model, ie there must be full accounting for the costs of energy production. If not, then the gaming which is a highlight of the current energy markets will simply be transferred to the new model.

Japanese telecommunications company, NTT (Nippon Telephone and Telegraph), has moved into this model in a big way, even though it seems outside its core business, by the creation of NTT Facilities (http://www. ntt-f.co.jp/english/). The NTT Facilities business model is to sign up clients to long term service agreements at guaranteed levels – for process and building power and heat, HVAC and other energy based services – all giving certainty to clients, giving them incentives to be efficient users, and placing downward pressure on the energy input side for greater efficiency and lower costs – as that goes straight to the bottom line. That model means the less energy used the greater is NTT Facilities profit line – so which Australian utility will be first to adopt that disruptive model?

As the Irishman replied when asked ‘How do I get to Dublin?’ ‘Well, if I were goin’ ta Dublin, I wouldn’t be startin’ from here!’ But here is where we are, so which way do we go? Already many companies around the world have seen that consumers like certainty and dislike risk which involves making judgements. The leasing models for solar systems on roof tops, for solar

hot water and even the Zipcar and other such services recognise that consumers prefer to sign up to long-term contracts at fixed prices. They want guarantees of access to services at agreed levels, but are agnostic on the energy source for those services. The various energy efficiency schemes here and overseas also offer clues to the way forward, but are based on the existing market regimes. They are used as tools to force electricity retailers to offer energy efficiency (EE) pathways to consumers, but this is contrary to their business models (ie making money by selling more energy) so to retain their profit levels retailers simply transfer costs to those not participating. There are sound justifications for these EE schemes, but they are sub-optimal and fail to address the core problem.

A panacea for market failure There are many means to redress this problem and foremost will be the recognition by our regulators of that core market failure: sell more energy to make more money, which encourages profligacy in energy production and use.

One solution is at hand which would help guide a transition if taken up on a national scale: the use of US financing model Property Assessed Clean Energy. The first PACE program was implemented in 2008 by Berkeley, California, in a bid to meet local climate goals.

In common with many new schemes it had its teething problems, not least of which was the unlucky timing of roll-out as the US housing bubble burst and GFC took hold.

Nevertheless, the scheme has great merit as a mechanism for accessing finance for solar and encouraging energy efficiency.

In my next article in Solar Progress I will explain how my Property Assessed Clean Energy Retrofit or PACER program could work.

Steve Blume is CEO of NoCarbon Pty Ltd, the solar energy and climate change policy and practice consultancy. www.nocarbon.com.au

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Political update

“I am very confident about the outlook for Australia’s residential and large-scale solar sectors going forward.”

Combet comment Solar Progress asked Climate Change Minister Greg Combet for an update on the RE landscape in the post-carbon price environment.

Australia’s carbon price was successfully begun on July 1 last year. The carbon price, and the accompanying Clean Energy Future package, are here to stay and will drive investment in renewable energy for decades to come.

Putting a price on carbon is an essential step in reigning in greenhouse gas pollution, while also increasing demand for alternative energy sources like solar.

The carbon price gives businesses a financial incentive to reduce emissions in producing and consuming energy. The carbon price also helps investors, innovators and entrepreneurs to develop and bring new renewable energy technologies to the marketplace.

The carbon price is designed to work with the Renewable Energy Target (RET), Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), which together are mutually supportive and transformative.

With the carbon price having been in place for over eight months now, there is measurable evidence that it is working. Greenhouse gas pollution has fallen in the National Electricity Market by 8.6 per cent, or 7.6 million tonnes, compared to the same period in 2011.

Investment in renewable energy, conversely, is continuing to increase.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates that global investment in renewable power and fuels increased 20 per cent to a new record of $302 billion in 2011, with solar being the fastest growing sector.

The RET continues to underpin investment in renewable energy sources like solar, wind, tidal and geothermal power, and with the carbon price will deliver at least 20 per cent of Australia's electricity from renewable sources by 2020.

To date the RET has been successful in supporting more than 955,000 Australian households and businesses install rooftop solar and more than 783,000 solar hot water systems and air sourced heat pumps. These have made a measureable impact on electricity demand, which further reduces emissions in our electricity grids. In the first six months of the carbon price, the power station generation in National Electricity Market was 2.7 per cent less than the same period in 2011.

We now have over 2,000 MW of solar PV capacity and over 365 renewable energy power stations that have been accredited under the RET scheme since 2001, and more are on the way.

The RET and the carbon price work because they are both market mechanisms. They send the right signals to the market, to encourage business and investors to develop and deploy renewable energy at the lowest economic cost.

24 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

It’s because of the carbon price that the wholesale price of electricity now better reflects the price of pollution paid by the largest emitters of carbon pollution.

Renewable energy generators now benefit too from both the higher return for their electricity in the wholesale market and associated financial markets, as well as the value from renewable energy certificates created under the RET. But it’s not just the RET and the carbon price that will drive investment and innovation in Australia’s solar and other renewable sectors.

These two measures are further strengthened by the CEFC which is now established and getting ready to invest from 1 July 2013.

The CEFC will inject $10 billion of finance over five years to overcome barriers to investment, in renewable energy, low emissions technology and energy efficiency. It will directly assist businesses seeking to get innovative clean energy project proposals, including solar projects, off the ground.

The ARENA is responsible for administering $3.2 billion to support research and development, demonstration and commercialisation of renewable energy technologies. This $3.2 billion is additional to the funds available to the CEFC and revenue generated by the carbon price.

The carbon price, RET, CEFC and ARENA represent a comprehensive package that will not only increase investment and job opportunities in the renewable energy sector in the short to medium term, but help usher in a Clean Energy Future benefiting all Australians over the long term. Australia needs these four policies to work together in mutually supporting ways relying on one or two of them will not transform our energy sector.

With these key policy and program measures legislated and implemented I am very confident about the outlook for Australia’s residential and largescale solar sectors going forward.

Greg Combet AM MP Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency Minister for Industry and Innovation

“The CEFC will inject $10 billion of finance over five years [and] directly assist businesses seeking to get innovative clean energy project proposals, including solar projects, off the ground.”

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Conference Feature

Celebrating

50 years of solar

CSP in Europe A familiar face at ASC conferences is Scott Frier of Abengoa, whose December 2012 trip marked his 16th visit to Australia.

Frier reported on CSP (solar thermal) developments in Abu Dhabi and also in Spain which remains the “standout” leader in development of CSP plants.

Worldwide CSP installed capacity stood at 1.8 GW in 2011 and leapt to 2.5 GW 2012. The forecast to 2017 is a healthy 10.9 GW. “And that is a certain thing,” said Frier, adding the thought provoking comment: “Given its solar resource, Australia could be the Spain of the Pacific” [but] “Here in Australia the solar flagships did not yield the large-scale projects anticipated.”

Frier is a big advocate of the feed-in tariff as one option to promote solar power, with Option 2 being reverse bidding.

Seeing Green

During the December 2012 Solar Jubilee conference a large number of key solar power developments and insights were listed on the program.

Presenters did not disappoint, delivering a host of interesting insights about ground-breaking developments, and in other cases, observations of the local and global market.

What on earth do fresh blueberries cultivated in Chile have to do with solar power? Quite a bit, as Solar Jubilee conference goers learnt.

Sitting snugly between the Pacific coastline and Argentina is the central Chilean region of Bio Bio, a mass producer and exporter of near-ripe blueberries. The delicate perishable fruit suffers an aversion to heat, so it is somewhat ironic that solar radiation is coming to the rescue through the development of a solar driven combined organic Rankine cycle and vapour compression cycle with “coolth” storage.

Just one of many intriguing insights delivered during the two day conference featuring more than 60 specialist speakers across six streams: PV, solar heating and cooling, CSP, Policy, Grids, and the Built environment; and from universities across Australia, India, the US, New Zealand and more.

Presented were developments on pioneering endeavours as diverse as polycrystalline silicon thin film cells and germanium nanocrystals to carbon neutral aboriginal communities and development of greenhouses in mountainous Nepal to counter malnutrition in the region whose growing season is confined to four months a year.

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Frier singled out Greens leader Senator Christine Milne as “a real firebrand, inspirational …”. During Europe’s winter solstice Milne would be visiting Seville to view CSP plants first-hand and gain an idea of the power of molten salt storage which enables power supplies 24/7. On her return Milne was reported as stating: “… all I could think was here they are doing it in Spain, why aren’t we doing it in Australia when we have got all the advantages in terms of physical space, we have got the right solar radiation but we have got the mindset that sticks with old fossil fuel technologies? … It is now a matter of the economics of it, not a matter of whether technology can deliver power after the sun goes down.”

Peter Fries

Ahead of the pack The title of keynote speaker Peter Fries’ address was ‘First out of the foxhole gets shot’ in reference to his pioneering spirit developing the first Australian grid connected PV system and having to jump hurdles to complete the project. (See full story on the Mt Coolum house on pages 30-31.)

June 1994 marked the official opening, and three years on Fries sold the house and spent the next decade in the US with the UN on media matters. By the time he returned to Australia in 2008 various solar incentives and rebates were in place.

Now with TPM Cleantech overseeing 3.5 MW financed projects, Fries’ upbeat forecast for five years hence is: “The solar industry will be completely different … and utilities are horribly surprised at the pace.”

Conference notables

Noel Barton and Keith Lovegrove

ASC matters ASC CEO John Grimes described the solar society’s celebration of 50 years as a “fantastic milestone” and spoke of his optimism in the future role of the ASC and solar developments in general.

Grocon Group’s David Waldren presented a series of net zero energy buildings across the world, but his address sparked debate over the company’s inappropriate positioning of some rooftop PVs, namely in the shade or facing sub-optimal position.

No solar conference would be complete without an address by Keith Lovegrove of ITPower. He presented the likely future for CST/CSP, with references to CLFR at Liddell Power Station and at Kogan Creek. Posing the question: Has CSP lost the race? Lovegrove noted the higher levels of activity surrounding wind and PV in contrast with CSP. To rouse interest, he floated the notion of converting brown coal and biomass to liquid fuels.

Meanwhile, Dr Harald Drueck of the University of Stuttgart outlined solar thermal trends and developments in Europe.

Rob Bartram of First Solar revealed some of the lessons learnt from the development of the Greenough River Solar farm, which boasts 150,000 solar modules and took 12 months to construct. Developers agreed that 10 MW is too small to realise economies of scale and found that local sub contractors lack project experience but that community support for large scale PV is very strong.

Barriers to development of utility scale solar include ineffective financing structure and local industry capacity, he said.

Displaying the time lapse images of construction of a linear Fresnel PV plant in Germany that was speedily installed despite the driving snow, John demonstrated just how quickly a solar plant could be built from digging to cabling to frames and panels.

He also presented an overview of ASC’s SolarPlus, describing it as “a great tool to give customers as it lends confidence and choice” and stated that the ASC’s Best Practice Program which represents a badge of trust and certification and sets a new benchmark akin to “A CPA program for solar accountants” now boasts a number of graduates.

“Linking research and industry is the most potent thing we can do,” said John who on behalf of the wider solar power industry maintains a high public profile and continues to forge strategic relationships with key partners in China and Europe and beyond

Scott Frier

He presented findings from the ASC commissioned detailed market analysis which revealed four million Australian households now have solar hot water or PV panels.

Rob Bartram, Olivia Coldrey and John Grimes

Harald Drueck SolarProgress | 27

Conference feature

Solar Hall of Fame A key event at the 2012 Solar Jubilee conference was the recognition of prominent, long- standing solar identities through induction into the Solar Hall of Fame. The ASC committee selected each of the pioneers for their outstanding contribution to the field of solar power and collective drive to bring it into the mainstream.

The Solar Hall of Fame inductees are as follows: Emeritus Professor John Ballinger Emeritus Professor John Ballinger, AM, FRAIA was a Professor of Architecture at the University of New South Wales where he was founder of Solarch, the National Solar Architecture Research Unit at UNSW. He has more than 50 solar efficient buildings to his name and was appointed Project Manager for the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS).

Professor Bill Charters Professor Charters has clocked up 35 years in academic research and development in the field of solar thermal systems and energy conservation and efficiency through the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Melbourne.

And was Chief Technical Advisor to the UN Development Program on the regional solar test facility in India.

Professor Martin Green Professor Martin Green AM FAA FTSE is Scientia Professor at UNSW and Executive Research Director of the ARC Photovoltaic Centre of Excellence. He is well known internationally for his work developing the world’s highest-efficiency silicon solar cells.

Emeritus Professor Stephen Kaneff Dr David Mills David Mills helped develop the double cermet sputtered selective absorber coating now used widely on evacuated tubes throughout China for the 28 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

production of solar hot water: solar technology that may be the largest scale currently in use globally. David Mills also developed the CLFR solar thermal electricity and in 2006 co-founded Ausra Inc (now AREVA) in California.

Professor Graham Morrison Professor Graham Morrison is Emeritus Professor at UNSW and has been involved in solar thermal energy research and education for more than 35 years. He co-founded Solar Heat & Power Pty Ltd (later AREVA Solar) and developed the steam generation compact linear Fresnel concentrator used at Liddell power station and for the Solar Dawn Solar Flagships solar power station. He worked on the UN Development Programme on the solar thermal energy test centres in India and China.

Associate Professor Monica Oliphant Physicist Monica Oliphant has participated on several Australian Federal and State Government Committees, including the 2003 MRET Review and she is a Senior Advisor for IEEPA (International Energy Conservation, Environmental Protection Association, Beijing) and the UNIDO International Solar Energy Centre for Technology Promotion and Transfer, Lanzhou.

Mr Wal Read The work by Wal Read and his colleague Roger Morse at the CSIRO in the 1950s boosted the efficiency of Australian solar hot water systems by about 20%. Wal Read is hailed as one of the pioneers of solar thermal engineering in Australia.

Dr Zhengrong Shi Shi Zhengrong obtained his doctorate degree on solar power technology at the UNSW

School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering. On return to China in 2001 he founded Suntech Power and along with the company rose to great heights.

Dr Steve Szokolay AM Architect Dr Szokolay was Consultant for several UN organisations and lectured at many overseas universities. He published more than a dozen books and 150 research papers, mostly on solar energy and energy conservation in buildings, climatic design and sustainable architecture.

Dr Muriel Watt Dr Watt is the Head of Energy Policy & Photovoltaics at IT Power Australia and was Senior Lecturer, School of Photovoltaics and RE Engineering at UNSW. She is the Australian representative and member of the management board of the Executive Committee of the International Energy Agency Photovoltaics Power Systems Programme (PVPS), and Chair of the Australian PV Association Prof Stuart Wenham Scientia Professor Stuart Wenham is a worldleading solar cell inventor who heads the ARC Photovoltaic Centre of Excellence at UNSW. He has invented or co-invented eight suites of solar cell technologies that have been licensed to solar cell makers around the world. In 2007 he received the World Technology Award for Energy.

Present at Solar Jubilee to receive their award were Muriel Watt, David Mills and Monica Oliphant.

Presenting the awards were Bill Parker, Keith Lovegrove, Olivia Coldrey of ASI, and John Grimes.

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Special feature

First one out of the foxhole gets shot Solar power pioneer Peter Fries broke new ground building Solar One, Australia’s first residential building to feed power into the grid. The hilly terrain of the Sunshine Coast was the setting for the rocky ride.

In 1992, I was a journalist for The Australian newspaper and a very part time media officer for the Australian and New Zealand Solar Energy Society. During a reporting trip to the US and Japan, I saw a number of grid connected PV projects, including a 29 home subdivision in Phoenix Arizona. When I returned to Australia, I found, to my amazement, that no one had yet connected a residential PV system to a state’s power grid.

I wondered if a similar project could be done here, so I cold called Tony Booth, the head of research for the South East Queensland Electricity Board, which is now Energex.

I fully expected a secretary to answer the phone, but to my shock and amazement, the voice at the other phone said “Tony Booth here”.

“Uh, um … Mr Booth,” I said, “it’s Peter Fries here and I’ve just returned from the US where I saw a number of solar photovoltaic projects connected to the grid and I’d like to do the same here with the help of SEQEB”.

To his great credit, Tony simply replied “Sound interesting, come to Brisbane and we’ll talk about it”. So I did and met with Tony and a young engineer named Grayden Johnson.

Together we hatched the project that would lead to a PhD for Grayden and, I thought some serious cred for ANZSES. At the subsequent ANZSES conference in Darwin, I proposed that ANZSES support a promotional project to install, monitor and promote the first grid connected PV system in Australia on an energy efficient building, 30 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

and that I would construct the building as my home. The resolution was unanimously accepted and I moved forward with the belief that I could count on ANZSES support.

At that point I called up my brother who was a stockbroker at the time and proudly announced that I would be constructing the first grid connected solar residential system in Australia.

After a fairly long pause he replied “Pete, stockbrokers have a saying: first one out of the foxhole gets shot”.

Forging ahead Undaunted, I proceeded to design the passive solar and energy efficient building with the help of some new CAD software at the University of Queensland and attracted the TVS Partnership and architect Mark Thomson to the project.

I secured a beautiful sloping block of land on the northern side of Mt Coolum on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, which proved to be both a blessing and a curse. The passive solar design included rammed earth construction, which I had also seen in the US but which was a centuries old technology. And I was acquiring other sponsors of products and services in-line with the project’s goals, including Pilkington, James Hardie, and Fisher and Paykel.

I proposed that ANZSES fund the PV system about $10,000, which would be supplied from BP Solar, and I would run the project as a demonstration for two years, after which we would decide what to do with the system.

“I proudly announced [in 1992] that I would be constructing the first grid connected solar residential system in Australia.”

However, one ANZSES branch decided that it was too early to promote PV and if ANZSES was going to do so, they should open it up to tender.

I remember thinking at the time: “So let me get this straight, I put a project together over 12 months, find sponsor and line up a utility, and you want me to put it out to tender?”

At this point, I learned another valuable lesson: in worthwhile projects, help comes from the most unlikely directions. RF Industries decided this was a good project and offered the array to ANZSES for about $2000, at which point the Chair, Steve Szokolay, decided it was too good a deal to pass up for ANZSES and used money from the promotional fund (at the time) to purchase the system.

The RF industries system included a 1.4 kW array of Solarex polycrystalline cells – made up of 14 x 83 watt panels, and the first grid interactive inverter made by Dale Butler and Siemens.

Construction time was about six months and I have to say, without exaggerating, that the final building was beautiful. You can see some video at www.solar.org.au

“In the 18 years since the switch was thrown on Solar One, there are now nearly one million solar powered buildings in Australia – a compound annual growth rate of 100%.”

The Project was officially opened by the Queensland Energy Minister at the time, Tony O’Grady, on a clear, sunny day in July, 1994.

Sunny outcome The results over the two-year demonstration period were pretty much as expected. 4-6 kWh per day with about half that fed into the grid.

The house was very energy efficient, however, and only used about 5 kWh per day – quarter the Queensland average, mainly through the use of a Solahart gas-boosted solar water heater, gas cooking, and high star rated appliances.

Monitoring of the internal temperature found that the house never went below 16°C and never went above 26°C – even on the hottest days.

Solar One was a technical success and received substantial media attention over the course of the two-year demonstration.

Part of the learning process for the Project was how to value the electricity and what type of agreement should be signed. You can see the original at www.solar.org au At the end of the first year, I received the first ever cheque for electricity fed into the grid from a residential PV system: a princely sum of $7. I still have the cheque.

Not everyone was impressed, however.

Nearing completion, one of the builders looked up at the grid PV system. “This will never catch on,” he scoffed. To be fair, this was two weeks after his ute had slid down the block because someone didn’t put the handbrake on. OK, it was me.

The builder of course, was wrong. Solar PV has caught on. In the 18 years since the switch was thrown on Solar One, there are now nearly one million solar powered buildings in Australia – a compound annual growth rate of 100%.

That’s how far we’ve come.

Although I sold Solar One in 1997, the building continues to operate well. The inverter was replaced after 18 years of service – not bad for the first such inverter made in Australia.

Seen in this arc of history, Solar One was a modest effort by a group of curious and committed people. It wasn’t unique – except in Australia – and the solar part at least wasn’t even particularly challenging.

It was however, the proverbial first step on the bumpy journey to a clean energy economy.

Yet it was a step that had to be taken and I like to think that it twisted, just a bit, the cork holding in the Sustainable Energy Genie – who is now well and truly out and won’t go back in – unless we let it.

Journalist and filmmaker Peter Fries has been a solar advocate for more than two decades.

Editor's Note: Solar One was inspirational, and while the impact of such developments are impossible to quantify, the house and the concept inspired many others to do the same.

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Bright spark When Rob Selbie was in his early teens he was advising homeowners about sustainability and suggesting they ditch energy-sapping halogen lights. One decade on he’s one foot taller and still leading the charge. Here we ask the savvy Sydney student to share some of his views and expectations.

What triggered your early interest in energy conservation?

When starting high school, I had a short introduction to renewable energy (RE), and I became fascinated with the fact that you could produce electricity from seemingly nothing.

This fuelled an insatiable curiosity about all the different ways energy could be created – I’m embarrassed to admit I spent more than a few lunchtimes engrossed in RE books learning how photovoltaics work.

I remember being convinced that geothermal power was the way to go one month, and another month believing solar and wind were the only mature technologies able to satisfy our energy demand. A few years later, public interest in climate change really took off, and this only continued to fuel my interest in the RE field.

What practical measures have you taken in your life/home to minimise power use or embrace clean energy?

Back when I first became intensely interested in RE and energy efficiency, I went on an ‘energy crusade’ around our house. I did all the little things like put in CFLs, add insulation and install motion sensor lights outside, but I also started a long, arduous campaign to my parents to install a photovoltaic system.

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At the time, the 1.5 kW system I was looking at needed an investment of around $7000 (with subsidies). Of course, this was a lot of money, and my parents initially baulked at the cost (even with the comprehensive payback plan I had outlined). But as the cost of solar fell over the years, my dream became more likely and early in 2012 we finally installed a 1.5 kW system. It may have something to do with the fact that we signed a deal with an electricity provider to install the panels for free in return for 50% of the electricity over the next five years …

I also planned a business around auditing people’s homes in my neighborhood to supply and install various energy and water saving measures, but I never had time to implement it!

What attracted you to the Renewable Energy engineering degree at UNSW? After looking at programs in the US and Australia, I was impressed by the breadth of this degree with courses covering almost all the renewable technologies, including related areas such as policy, energy efficiency and low energy buildings. And of course, it’s taught by one of the leading engineering faculties in Australia.

This degree is enhanced by the concentration of funding and research at UNSW, and the presence of the ARC Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence, which holds the world record for the highest efficiency silicon solar cell.

Image by Andrew Selbie

Special feature

I’m beginning my third year of this course and really appreciate studying with so many like-minded people; my fellow renewable energy engineering students obviously share a passion about the environment and addressing climate change.

In your opinion is there an ideal mix of renewable energy sources?

I think it’s now obvious that that there is no ‘quick fix’ solution that we can simply substitute for fossil fuels. I believe that we’ll slowly move to a solar dominated future, but in the near term wind and biomass will provide a large part of the push towards renewables. However, with cost being rapidly removed as a barrier to solar, I believe that ultimately solar will be the first choice in most applications.

“Over the first two years of my RE engineering degree, I’ve gained a comprehensive knowledge of solar power, and how grid-connected PV has become the overwhelming way to implement solar.”

Tell us your thoughts on solar power Over the first two years of my RE engineering degree, I’ve gained a comprehensive knowledge of solar power, and how grid-connected PV has become the overwhelming way to implement solar. Right now, the solar industry (especially Australia) is in uncertain territory, trying to establish an equilibrium between supply, demand and subsidies, but I believe – hope – that we’ll soon be beyond this rough patch, with solar becoming an increasingly important energy source.

I’m particularly inspired by Beyond Zero Emissions’ ambitious and detailed plan to transition Australia to 100% renewable energy by 2020, using just 3% of our GDP over the next 10 years. BZE advocates the development of solar thermal (CST) to provide the majority of the energy needed.

BUSINESS FOR SALE

What are your (and your generation’s) expectations for a cleaner, greener future?

My friends [outside university] have an awareness of the current climate change concerns and in general I’d like to think our generation is past the debate about the cause and effects of climate change, and actively exploring ways we can contribute (however little) to a solution.

I think the drive to reduce fossil fuel use will be driven more by economic benefits rather than solely a desire to improve the quality of the environment. Conversion to renewable energy provides a longterm solution, but has long payback times. Increasing energy efficiency is an under-appreciated way to reduce carbon emissions and fossil fuel use. Though it’s not as glamorous as renewable energy, in almost all cases boosting energy efficiency is simpler, cheaper and easier to implement first, with shorter payback times. Readers will have heard of Amory Lovins, who’s a big proponent of this in the US.

Rob’s RE focus Rob Selbie is currently entering his third year of a Renewable Energy Engineering degree at UNSW, where he has been involved as an executive of the Renewable Energy Society and a representative for the School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering. Rob helped create REnaissance, the UNSW newsletter covering the field of renewable energy.

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SolarProgress | 33

News and views

Australian solar and the Icarus syndrome Award winning solar consultant Nigel Morris presents a colourful look at the solar landscape.

I was recently pondering where the sun might take us this year and during a poignant moment was reminded of the story of Icarus.

According to Greek mythology, Icarus was so overcome with the sensation of flying that he ignored the advice of his father – a master craftsman – flew too close to the sun and suffered the tragic consequences. In my case, I had to console my heartbroken five-year-old son who, despite his strap-on angel wings and grim determination to throw himself off ever higher things, had come to the sad realisation that he was never going to able to fly. The magic spell was broken.

Right now, the Australian solar industry could perhaps be likened to Icarus.

We have flown higher than we thought possible, hitting almost 1000MW of annual PV installations in 2012, despite cutbacks in financial incentives. It’s worth remembering that just three years ago the entire Australian market was thirteen times smaller at 75MW. This meteoric rise in deployment has had enormous positive benefits; new levels of employment, innovative products, reductions to greenhouse gases, healthy competition, and more. In rough terms, consumers have invested in excess of $7 billion building “the people’s power station” and are racking up savings on electricity bills in the order of $800 million each year.

However, nothing comes without consequence and we are starting to see the ramifications of such rapid deployment.

We have significant, increasing barriers to connection at the domestic and commercial level, despite a mountain of effort on policy, legislation and rules. We have some instances where network feeder penetration is as high as 69% of peak load and reverse power flow is occurring on some occasions, which is scaring the pants off some network companies and in some cases creating serious voltage rise consequences. And we have significant amounts of PV and other renewables being injected into the network which has shifted the time of peak demand and reduced the wholesale cost of electricity, particularly in the case of South Australia.

These issues could well be a sign that we are flying a little too close to the sun, and like Icarus it could be worthwhile taking heed of the “master craftsmen”; those with more mature PV markets than us, like Germany.

Germany’s declining wholesale electricity price and monumental PV contribution (up to 18% of total energy and 50% of total demand on some occasions) is radically re-shaping the country’s electricity market and this issue is increasingly being debated around the world because the ramifications are enormous. Why?

34 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

There are many reasons, but the core is this; the traditional revenue streams (particularly from the provision of peak energy) are catastrophically affected, an issue that we are starting to see in Australia too. In simple terms, if the traditional revenue streams for conventional generators (and network companies and retailers) change dramatically, their whole world will be shaken to the core; revenue modelling, investors, shareholders, finance providers - everyone will have to get their head around a new model. If the time of peak demand continues to shift, pricing strategies and consumer signals will have to change; and we haven’t even managed to get Time Of Use widely used in Australia yet.

For solar investors, this is a double whammy because the more we deploy, the more we potentially reduce wholesale costs and the more that happens, the less we are likely to get for the energy we produce. We may be flapping our way to the sun.

These matters are just a tiny sample of the myriad of implications and issues that the solar industry and the electricity industry are going to have to grapple with in the coming years and the solar juggernaut doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Much. At all.

We truly are looking down the barrel of an energy revolution.

Nigel Morris is director of consultancy Solar Business Services www.solarbusiness.com.au

Book Review

Following the sun The pioneering years of solar energy research at The Australian National University 1970-2005, by Robin Tennant-Wood.

Book review by Bill Parker To embark on a major research and development project in solar energy in a location described as “diabolical” sounds daunting. In this case, the location of White Cliffs in New South Wales - 1100 kilometres from home base with poor connecting roads and a temperature regime that is the subject of record books - was to be the birthplace of a “simple” solar technology.

Robin Tennant–Wood begins his narrative on the pioneering years of solar energy at the Australian National University by presenting a snapshot of the political world of Canberra and the ANU and the physical environment of White Cliffs.

I would suggest readers visit Google Earth to gain an impression of the “Martian” landscape of opal mining and the curious V-shaped dish array at the town’s southern edge. Then reflect on the determination and dedication of a small group solar engineers and scientists who built, arguably, the world’s first solar power station.

A benchmark indeed.

There was widespread interest in solar energy during the early 1970s with an oil crisis affecting the Western world, and therefore its politicians. White Cliffs was built for an unprecedented $800,000 which in today’s costs would be about $3 million.

Also the ANU took the unprecedented step of forming ANUTECH, a P/L company, to manage the project.

The driver of the White Cliffs solar dish project was Emeritus Professor Stephen Kaneff with a support team consisting of Robert Whelan, Keith Thomas, Peter Cantor and Peter Carden. This group, while being the core of the White Cliffs project were more than that and became the “agenda setters”, as Tennant–Woods puts it, for the

development of solar energy research in a society that was still pro–nuclear. The elements of future research were established.

Decommissioned in 1994, the White Cliffs solar power station is listed as a national engineering heritage site.

Neither Kaneff nor Carden were in favour of nuclear energy. And the research and policy background then was espousing the safety, potential success and low cost of nuclear fusion.

Here, the author paints a realistic picture of the way in which the funding cake was divided up, and the need for the external funding. The attitude then was that solar was trivial, but that without White Cliffs, solar research at ANU may not have achieved what it has.

The pathway that the various entities at ANU took as more and more milestones in solar thermal work were achieved is recorded by Robin Tennant–Wood with detail that shows how decisions were made at ANU. It is a surprising story which makes the book worth reading in its own right. From the early days at White Cliffs to the commissioning of the 400m2 “big” dish and later an adjacent 500m2 dish the path was not smooth, indeed it could be described as hostile.

PV work at ANU followed a different evolutionary pathway. Commencing in 1991, the group led by Andrew Blakers was, and is, a university entity. The focus was diverse allowing for a continuum if one avenue of investigation had problems. By 1997, there was a marriage of PV and solar thermal and the outcomes have been significant.

Two other notable figures in Australia solar research, Martin Green and David Mills, both emerged on the Australian research landscape at about the same time. The nexus

of Australia’s solar research was formed

by ANU, UNSW and Sydney University. The origins were different of course with (for example) the thermal work of Roger Morse at CSIRO, and herein also lies the origin of the Australian and New Zealand Solar Energy Society.

Externally, Solahart was contributing to research in solar thermal and Telecom Australia was involved in PV. And here again were the connections between commercial outcomes and research. ANZSES, as was, held a dual role of part industry association and part scientific forum.

At least funds were on offer both from overseas and from the Federal government.

Even so, the image of the British academic with his trousers secured at the bottom with string (to prevent cold air access) came to mind as I read the comments of David Mills as to how things were done on the cheap in Australia.

Tennant–Wood has left no stone unturned, covering every aspect of the way we have used our ingenuity to harness solar heat and light. John Ballinger’s solar village at Bonnyrigg for example, using far less energy “purchased” energy when compared to a control group of houses. The Solar Energy Information Centre in Sydney showing the practical value of solar energy.

Politics plays a crucial role and the legacies of governments are here in forensic detail.

This is an important book. Every high school should make this mandatory reading.

ISBN 9781922144126 (Print version) $19.95 (GST inclusive) ISBN 9781922144133 (Online) Published October 2012 Citation url: http://epress.anu.edu.au?p=204181

SolarProgress | 35

Special Feature

The STELR Project The Science and Technology Education Leveraging Relevance Project is a national secondary school science education initiative aimed at nurturing students’ interest and participation in innovation with an emphasis on sustainability.

By STELR Curriculum Coordinator Jenny Sharwood Imagine entering a Year 9 Science classroom in which students are so engrossed in their experiments that they barely notice your arrival.

Some groups of students might be measuring the effect of tilt angle on the power delivered by their model solar panel. Others may be debating how best to simulate cloud cover to test its effect, or starting to design their model solar-powered cars.

These and other challenging activities are the culmination of the innovative STELR program on global warming and energy, in

36 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

which students learn how to design, perform and evaluate their own investigations of solar panels, wind turbines, and so on.

After trialling ideas in a small number of schools across Australia in 2008 and 2009, resource materials, including specially designed robust, accurate and reliable equipment, were developed and trialled in over 180 schools in 2010, with the aid of Federal Government funding. Teachers were required to participate in the STELR professional learning program as a condition of acceptance.

Today more than 300 schools across Australia are involved in the STELR Project. There is an excited buzz in participating classrooms, with students experimenting and negotiating the solutions to real-life practical problems.

Students undertake group research projects on a wide range of energy resources then share their findings with the rest of the class.

This includes investigating how their chosen energy resource works, how it contributes to Australia’s energy needs, its advantages and disadvantages, its likely future and possible

“Students undertake group research projects on a wide range of energy resources then share their findings with the rest of the class.�

careers and the training required. Many schools include site tours as part of their program.

Making an extraordinary difference in science teaching Why does the STELR Project make such an extraordinary difference to the way science classes work?

The STELR Project is an initiative of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, whose eminent scientists, inventors, technologists and engineers, were concerned about the decreasing enrolment rates of Australian students in the enabling sciences and mathematics in their senior school years. They strongly believe that if Australia is to continue to be a vital, innovative, sustainable and productive society in the future, then we must all nurture our young people and ensure that we will have enough scientists, inventors, technologists and engineers to carry us into the future.

Research reveals that students are most actively engaged in their learning when they see it is relevant to their lives. Recent research showed that global warming is of great concern to many Australian students. It is important that students are hopeful about their future and feel that they can make a real contribution to solving this problem. For this reason the STELR program focuses on one of the most constructive ways to mitigate global warming – the development of renewable energy resources.

If we are to prepare students to be our constructive thinkers and doers of the future, they need to learn how to critically examine important issues, use their own initiative and creativity, solve challenging problems, perform and evaluate objective investigations (including ones they have designed themselves), conduct research, draw evidence-based conclusions, work collaboratively and communicate effectively.

To ensure that all students have these opportunities, the STELR program is required to be part of the school curriculum, and not just used as an extension opportunity for a few select students.

Not just for high school Lecturers in many university schools of education now use STELR activities to train pre-service teachers, particularly as the program models the teaching and learning approach specified in the Australian Science Curriculum. Teachers at STELR schools are also reporting a significant increase in numbers of students studying the enabling sciences and mathematics at the senior level.

Our STELR school numbers are growing and we are developing other programs for Years 7 -10 that are based on this very successful model. This will require considerable funding support as well as expert advice.

If you would like to support this work in some way, please visit website: www.stelr.org or contact the Project Manager Peter Pentland at: Peter.Pentland@atse.org.au.

SolarProgress | 37

News and views

Fossil Fools

in the Sunshine State Land of sunshine? Peter Fries sums up the numbers only to find things don’t quite stack up.

In the backlash against rising electricity prices, renewable energy has often been singled out as the convenient scapegoat, particularly by a conventional power industry keen to protect their economic position.

While the industry is entitled to their opinions, they are not entitled to their own facts, which are anything but supportive.

While the spotlight has been rightly applied to infrastructure ‘gold plating’, the real elephant in the room is the corporate welfare doled out to already profitable sectors. Queensland is a prime example.

The coal and gas industries in the highly ironic Sunshine State are rapidly expanding under archaic laws that give mining right of way over other land uses. Their development has not only faced far fewer

restrictions but these mature industries have been greatly subsidised.

In his review of energy policy in Queensland, Clean Energy Pathways, energy systems expert, Trevor Berrill, has identified State subsidies to the coal and gas industry of at least $6.9 billion over the past five years, including hundreds of millions of dollars for the development of the oxymoronic ‘clean coal’. Another $13 billion is to be spent on infrastructure to support the industry in the next 20 years.

By contrast, renewable energy and energy efficiency industries have received about $900 million in the same period. The industry, however, still faces many barriers such as access to land for large-scale wind and solar thermal electricity projects, none of which are yet ‘off the ground’.

“If you are in a fossil fuel hole and you want to get out, the first thing to do is stop digging.”

38 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

“In 2011, total fossil fuel subsidies by the Australian government were calculated … to be $12.2 billion … compared to just $1.1 billion spent on climate policies, including support for renewable energy in 2010–11.”

Digging ever deeper Look deeper into the data and Queensland is just the tip of the fossil fuel subsidy iceberg.

In 2011, total fossil fuel subsidies by the Australian government were calculated by the Grattan Institute to be $12.2 billion. This compared to just $1.1 billion spent on climate policies, including support for renewable energy in 2010–11. In the previous three year period, fossil fuel subsidies also outpaced funding for government climate change initiatives by $1 billion.

When federal and state subsidies are combined with the cost of pollution, every Queensland home is paying $3475 per year to use fossil fuels. That is not a misprint. The figure includes Queensland Government subsidies of $1.42 billion per year ($750 per home), federal government subsidies of $10 billion per year ($1250 per home) and the $6 billion pollution cost of burning coal and gas ($3150 per home).

Even if the pollution cost is reduced by a factor of 4, the cost to support a profitable and highly polluting industry is more than $2000 per year per home.

Compare this to the cost of renewable energy support nationally at $100-200 per year per home and the Queensland solar feed in tariff

that adds $54 per home by 2014.15, according the State Energy and Water Supply Minister.

Hon. Mark McArdle.

The power of one The solar feed in tariff, however, has helped create a highly successful solar PV industry in the 18 years after Solar One on the Sunshine Coast became the first rooftop solar PV system connected to a power grid. Queensland now boasts 250,000 solar homes and there are nearly one million nationally – a 100% annual growth rate that has created a real industry sector with thousands of clean energy jobs.

The renewable energy support, however, does not factor in a number of benefits that electricity distributors are now starting to realise. In his analysis of electricity demand from 2008 and 2012, John Davidson calculates that the solar PV installed in Queensland is actually saving households without solar $56 a year.

This is consistent with comments made

by Energex’s Mike Swanston on ABC radio after the temperature hit the high 30s in Queensland. The 500 megawatts of rooftop solar was, he said, “… making a big difference in reducing the peak demand across southeast Queensland.” Peak demand power is

the most expensive power to generate. With the generation cost of roof-top solar now at grid parity with domestic retail prices, solar is cheaper than gas generation to offset summer peak demand.

Coal and gas industries have a rightful competitive and unsubsidised place in the market, but let’s stop the fossil fooling that masquerades as real competition.

Our children will look back and wonder how such bipolar insanity could pass as intelligent policy. To paraphrase the Irish Proverb: if you are in a fossil fuel hole and you want to get out, the first thing to do is stop digging. Literally.

By removing subsidies and making prices tell the environmental truth, we can move steadily to a clean energy economy while contributing to climate change efforts internationally. That’s a win-win for us… and our kids.

Peter Fries is an environmental journalist and filmmaker. In 1994, he coordinated the Solar One Project, the first rooftop solar PV system connected to a state power grid.

This article first appeared in e-newsletter Renew Economy in January 2013 and is reproduced with kind permission of the author.

SolarProgress | 39

ASC around the nation Tasmania’s inaugural Australian Solar House tour branch Notes from a small island by Rob McGregor, Kerry and Anne Watson The first meeting of the Tasmanian branch of ISES (later AuSES, now ASC) was held on December 6, 1982. Eighteen months later, the branch held the inaugural Solar House Tour. The ambitious mid-winter tour inspired by the residence constructed by the astrophysicist Grote Reber in the small Tasmanian highland village of Bothwell (now publicised as the home of golf in Australia), about 80 kilometres from Hobart.

Grote Reber was the father of radio astronomy, and being an impatient sort of person decided not to wait a lifetime in the USA for a large grant to build a radio telescope. Instead, he migrated to Tasmania where he could interrogate that part of the universe that interested him and built his own telescopes. These early radio telescopes looked like hop farms, with a matrix of posts and wires, and were scattered throughout the Midlands as well as beside Hobart Airport during the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s.

By the ‘80s Grote had retired and being a physicist, he worked from first principles and built himself a solar heated home and an electric car. A museum commemorating his life and achievements has been established at the Mt Pleasant radio telescope near Richmond in Tasmania.

The 1983 tour started with a visit to the Bignell house, designed by architect Jim Moon, which was an active solar heated house with a roof collector and underfloor rock store, which the tour group of about 20 members and friends really appreciated as a respite from the crisp Bothwell weather. In typical Tasmanian fashion, we had a barbecue lunch at the c.1830 Thorpe Mill, which was originally powered by an overshot water wheel driven by the Clyde River (real ‘solar power’ for the miller) and then being restored by the Bignell family.

Bignell house in Bothwell 40 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

The tour concluded with a visit to the Reber residence. The design was for an active heating system. The north wall was a hermeticallysealed double glazed air collector, with crimped and dimpled selective surface air channels behind the glass, connected to an under-floor rock store, which distributed heat through a floor and wall plenum air-handling system. However, as with many owner-builders, the project was incomplete, and the air-handling unit was displayed on stools in the rather chilly loungeroom. Grote demonstrated his innovative solutions for shading to the west and for controlling air temperature in the glazed northern wall.

This first tour began a tradition for the branch, which has held highly popular annual or biannual solar house tours for the last 30 years.

Tasmania state conference The ASC’s Tasmanian Branch is hosting a state conference on Buildings for Climate Change from Friday 5 July to Saturday July 6, 2013. The sessions are as follows: Energy and Buildings, Water and Buildings, Building Materials, and Climate Change and Buildings. Papers can be refereed if submitted beforehand. It is expected the emphasis will be on cool temperate climates and on the residential and small commercial sector.

Details will be placed on the web as they become available, meanwhile email matthew.pettit@bigpond.com

NSW branch

By Noel Barton, President of NSW Branch of Australian Solar Council The NSW Branch of ASC runs a regular Information Evening on the fourth Tuesday of each month. As well as a senior speaker, we usually have a Future Directions segment.

In this, we normally invite a younger Naghmeh Navidi (left) with Mary Hendriks at the person working in the CleanTech November meeting industry to provide a 10-minute outline of their career outlining their motivations, aspirations and the challenges. This is useful all round – the young people are a breath of fresh air for our older members, and in return they get the chance for some public speaking practice and recognition. The Future Directions program is coordinated by Committee Member Mary Hendriks, who I understand has encouraged other branches to adopt a similar feature.

Our Future Directions speaker for November was Naghmeh Navidi who came to Australia from Iran three and a half years ago. Her undergraduate degree is in Electrical Engineering from Iran and she has completed two Masters here in Australia – Engineering Management (University of Newcastle) and Photovoltaic and Solar Energy (UNSW).

Naghmeh currently works in Neolec, a wholesaler in solar industry, as Product Designer and she is also doing some small solar design.

The power of the Solomons An off-grid solar energy system to power the Hell’s Point Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Training and Operations Centre located in Honiara, Solomon Islands was commissioned late last year.

Working with local Solomon Islands contractor Willies Electrical and Solar Power, the Remote Area Power System (RAPS) harnesses solar energy to support the newly constructed EOD training facility.

Hell's Point system configuration: The solar solution includes a 17.1 kW PV array of Hyundai Heavy Industries monocrystalline 225 W PV roof-mounted panels, and SMA PV and Off-Grid inverters/chargers.

Energy storage and backup power is handled through a bank of flooded lead acid batteries that are automatically recharged by excess system energy with a capacity of nearly 150 kWh. An 11 kVA diesel generator set with automatic remote start-up function provides extra backup protection in the event of poor weather."

The RAPS also includes a computerised monitoring system, the SMA Sunny Webbox, which sports remote monitoring and configuration capability that allows anyone – whether in the Solomon Islands, Australia, or the US – to access real-time energy production and other data via a computer or cell phone. The system stores inverter measured values via Bluetooth or RS485 and uploads this online to the Sunny Portal server.

With around-the-clock data it can detect faults from the inverter and despatch emails via the Sunny Portal. Parameters can be changed and a variety of measured values can be depicted, analysed and downloaded via a web browser.

The low-down of the Solomons The Solomon Islands (capital Honiara) consist of nearly one thousand islands covering an area of around 28,400 square kilometres east of Papua New Guinea.

Its history dates back to 30,000 BC with the arrival of Papuan-speaking settlers, followed in 4000 BC by Austronesian speakers (travelling in their distinctive outrigger canoes). Sometime during 1200 and 800 BC the Lapita people – ancestors of the Polynesians – arrived from the Bismarck Archipelago.

By using solar energy rather than fossil fuel, the training facility will trim its energy bill and reduce maintenance needs while reducing noise levels and lowering greenhouse gas emissions, explained David Iro, owner of Willies Electrical and Solar Power. “Also, by working with the US Government to provide training to local contractors, we are building community job capacity while ensuring that the system is properly supported and maintained.”

Australian-owned Solar Inception designed the RAPS, supplied high quality solar equipment and helped install and commission the system.

Solar Inception General Manager Doug Fletcher said the local climate was ideal for harnessing the power of the sun, and job opportunities are boosted with more renewable energy systems being installed.

Multi-National Cooperation, Financing The Hell’s Point Explosive Ordnance Disposal site is a joint project between the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF), Australian High Commission and the United States Government. The site ensures safe storage and disposal of unexploded ordnance from the Second World War, when the area was used to stockpile dangerous munitions.

Construction of the new Training and Operations facility, which opened in June 2012, was funded by the Australian Defence Cooperation Program (DCP) as part of its financial commitment to the RSIPF Explosive Ordnance Disposal Program at Hell’s Point. The DCP invested over $3.5 million Solomon Island Dollars – approximately AUD $471,000 - in the Financial Year ended 30 June 2012. Other improvements included all new roads and demolition pits, world-class EOD render safe equipment and personal protective equipment.

Through the DCP program, the US has also contributed more than US $1 million to the EOD project, and will be actively involved with Willies Electrical and Solar Power in training local workers to support the new solar RAPS. Main image (top): Completed 17.1 kWp rooftop solar array at Hell’s Point Explosive Ordnance Disposal Training and Operations Centre Below: From left – David Iro Fulaga (Willies Electrical and Solar Power), Mark Lasley (US Department of State), Warrant Officer Tim Chislett (Australian High Commission), and Jeremy Tranter (Solar Inception).

The Islands were named Islas Salomón in 1568 on the arrival of Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña, the first known European visitor. The UK established the islands as a protectorate in 1893. During WWII the Solomon Islands was the scene of fierce fighting between US and Japanese troops.

Self-government was achieved in 1976 and independence two years later, with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state.

SolarProgress | 41

Solar products services

A round-up of who is doing what in the world of solar energy Grid connect solar with storage Rarely a day goes by without mention of renewable energy’s potential in the market place and inevitably mentioning energy storage. The proposed financial and structural value that energy storage will undoubtedly contribute as a support mechanism for all aspects of electricity supply.

However, the viable applications of storage technology are not clear as technologies are still work in progress.

It is obvious that energy storage has enormous potential in the electricity industry and the development of suitable products is the industry’s holy grail. The rollout of smart grid technology worldwide is predicating its long-term success and the inclusion of energy storage as integral.

The various roles of energy storage are (i) a support mechanism for electricity networks; (ii) a way to improve grid stability in the framework of increased renewable energy grid penetration; (iii) a contributing factor to provide more reliable remote power needs; and (iv) to provide ways to better meet residential and commercial customers’ needs.

Many inverters on the Australian market allow PV modules to be connected to the grid and battery storage to be interconnected. If an existing grid-connected PV system has battery-backup added, there are variations of products to use, such as the SMA Sunny Backup and Sunny Island.

During significant disruptions, such as brown out or grid failure, the inverter disconnects from the grid and the energy storage system uses the DC power inverted from the solar/battery bank to run the designated or required AC loads.

For domestic and small commercial systems there are five possible system configurations for grid connected PV systems incorporating battery storage: 1. A single unit acting as both Inverter and Charger, charging the batteries from the PV and/or grid.

2. The Solar Controller and Inverter are two separate units.

3. Two Inverters(1): (i) for connecting the PV to the grid; and (ii) for connecting the batteries to the loads. The batteries are charged via grid and have an interconnecting switch to allow PV to charge batteries.

4. Two Inverters(2): (i) for connecting the PV to grid; and (ii) for connecting the batteries to the loads and the batteries are being charged via grid.

The grid connect inverter is connected directly to the grid.

5. Two Inverters(3): (i) for connecting PV to grid; and (ii) for connecting the batteries to the loads and the batteries are being charged via the grid. The grid connect inverter is connected directly to the loads. This is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1 Total Forecast Commercial Market for Energy Storage in Australia to 2030 (Source: Energy Storage in Australia, Marchment Hill Consulting, 2012.

There are many reasons that an energy storage system might be added to a grid-connected solar system. The most common are: • to provide back up for loads continuous grid support in the event of blackouts or brown-outs; and • to reduce power bills, where the customer stores energy from their solar PV system during low tariff times, and uses that stored energy during peak pricing time.

42 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

Figure 2 (i) system for connecting PV to grid; and (ii) for connecting the batteries to the loads with batteries being charged via the grid.

The grid connect inverter is connected directly to the loads.

GSES is offering a Professional Development course on this topic and a supporting publication ‘Grid Connected Solar with Batteries’.

Article written by Susan Neill of GSES. For more information: www.gses.com.au

SMA servicing Australia SMA Marketing Manager Anna Brazil quizzed SMA’s Marko Werner on market dynamics and their impact on inverter supplies.

The Sydney Olympics stadium at Homebush

Having joined SMA in 1987, Marko Werner has witnessed the growth of a small sales department to a global sales organisation. This global context has opened up endless opportunities for SMA, but it has its challenges.

What are your feelings on the Australian market?

The Australian market is very important to SMA, which has had a presence in Australia since the 1990s. Our Australian subsidiary was established in Sydney in 2007, and I have seen it go from strength to strength, building a loyal customer base through our valued distributors.

Not only were the Sydney Olympics a milestone for Australia, they were also a great milestone for SMA, and for me. I have watched the Australian market’s ups and downs since then, and seen the public perception of PV evolve. Regardless of changing government incentives, Australia is a fortunate country with high levels of solar irradiation.

Holistic energy management is the key to continued success and I can see subsidies becoming irrelevant for Australia.

Why does it take SMA in Germany so long to supply stock to Australia?

I understand the concerns of our customers … the sheer distance creates a disadvantage for Australia; sea freight can take a long time and it is neither financially economical nor environmentally friendly to rely on air freight.

SMA operates a just-in-time manufacturing model that provides customers with the most up-to-date versions of products while reducing costs due to waste. This model has proven effective for the rest of the world but unfortunately it takes a while to get stock to Australia. We have recently introduced a bonded warehouse in Australia to provide a buffer, and Australian customers will benefit from this.

Early in 2012 increased demand from German and British markets stemmed from subsidies in both countries changing, with solar professionals in a race against time to install systems before the deadlines. As a result, these markets were prioritised and this caused supply problems in Australia which is regretted.

Marko Werner who is Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at SMA understands the complications of operating in a global context

This inconvenience happens in all solar PV markets – the change to Queensland’s feed-in tariff is a prime example.

Why does the Australian market often receive new products later than the rest of the world?

The geographical distance plays a part in this. Once a product has been developed in Germany, it is usually a straight-forward process to make it available within Europe. Variations in requirements are usually easily remedied.

Australia’s grid requirements differ from the requirements in Europe and also vary within Australia. These are factored into our product development process but we need to be certain that these products will pass certification in Australia before we start shipping them. I would prefer for a product to be delivered later than expected than for SMA to release a product that we are not fully sure of.

Our research and development team is in Germany so it makes sense to try new products in the European market first, where engineers at company headquarters are better placed to offer support.

What are SMA’s future plans for Australia?

During 2011, over 50% of SMA’s sales took place in foreign markets and the Australian market made up a significant proportion of this. I have witnessed the Australian market’s strong performance and can see more growth potential …Australia has the potential to be one of the top five PV markets for SMA. The country is going through a transformation. Self-generated PV current is already more cost-effective than relying on a conventional energy suppliers and I receive regular feedback on rising energy costs.

Homeowners are beginning to realise the benefits of energy management systems and will look to increase self-consumption. I also see a shift towards large scale solar in Australia.

The Australian market is enormously important to SMA and I look forward to embarking on this evolutionary adventure with Australia and its neighbouring countries. www.SMA-Australia.com.au SolarProgress | 43

Solar products services

SolarClips – Cable management made easy With tighter standards and a more competitive market for PV, installers, designers and retailers have to find ways to save on labour costs to maintain profit margins. Cable management behind the solar modules, is often problematic.

For those that have made the decision to switch from the old cable tie to SolarClips, they are off the roof faster, leaving the system with the knowledge they are using a quality product for their customers.

Matthew Spargo said “We had been using the clips in our solar installation business for quite some time, at least a year before the standards changed. As a small operator they got me off the roof faster. We launched www.solarclips.com.au and received our first bulk shipment over a year ago, and to our surprise we ran out within weeks.

“We have received great feedback mainly about the design and strength of the clips. Now with over three million clips in use across Australia the product has proven itself as a preferred solution to PV cable management.”

Visit our website and watch the video demonstrating ease of use. The clips can be purchased directly from the site using Paypal’s secured checkouts.

We already supply a number of wholesalers around the country with our clips so if you represent a wholesaler or a large project contractor please contact us directly by email. www.solarclips.com.au

44 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

Aussie Wide Solar We all know evacuated tubes provide a much higher performance than older flatplate collectors, especially in colder locations and seasons, but now there is a new system on the market that offers an even more effective evacuated tube system. By combining evacuated tubes and u-pipe water flow with a parabolic reflector, you can generate both high performance and high efficiency, using 100% of the sunlight striking the area.

This evacuated tube SHWS from Sunshower Australia is brand new to the Australian market. It combines the latest innovations and technology, including purpose designed storage tanks to maximize the performance, which come in three sizes, 250, 315 and 400 litre. But it’s the collectors where the Sunshower system really shines.

The CPC (Compound Parabolic Concentrators) collectors have a profiled reflector behind the tubes that angles the light towards the tubes no matter what time of day it is, soaking up the maximum solar gain for the available roof space. As there is no heat exchange manifold in the header there is no subsequent loss of heat. While a single CPC collector system

will generate 29 STCs in zone 3, a twin collector system will generate a massive 48 STCs for the installer. The twin collector system combined with a 400 litre tank will generate an estimated 85% in energy savings.

Other advantages include preassembled collectors, eliminating assembly while on the roof. The collector can be mounted at any angle from 5–90 degrees for a wide range of installation options. The storage tanks simply swap like-for-like with the existing, minimising new plumbing work. The Australian manufactured controller is simple to connect, and only needs to be switched on to self–commission.

The entire system has been approved by Watermark, Australian Standards and the Clean Energy Regulator. The company offers a standard seven year guarantee on both the solar collector and storage tank. Designed by Australians for Australians, it uses components from Germany, China and Australia. Assembled and installed in Australia, Sunshower is Australian owned and based in Newcastle.

Ph: 1300 287 765 Fax: 4960 8880 www.aussiewidesolar.com.au

Solar products services

Regen Power’s AcquaSmart: Solar powered drinking water for remote communities It is estimated that more than 60% of the population in remote areas is either without clean drinking water or has inadequate access. Water is drunk directly from rivers and streams, or is collected and boiled, which can be time consuming and damaging to the environment. In developing countries, microorganisms cause 2.5 million deaths each year.

Clean drinking water is a basic human need, and its availability is a critical factor for reducing water borne diseases. Water used for drinking should be treated and disinfected before consumption, and should be professionally tested for quality as there may be concentrations of naturally occurring elements which exceed health criteria.

To that end, Regen Power has developed AcquaSmart , the automatic drinking water treatment plant to purify surface water from sources such as rivers, ponds, streams, canals and lakes, and sub-surface water into drinkable water.

The system combines HybridGen – Regen’s award winning (patent pending) variable speed diesel generator with solar panels and wind generators. The main features of the fully automatic system include modern water treatment components - source water pumping, quartz filter, carbon filter reverse osmosis plant, ultraviolet (UV) light steriliser, Ozone and ozone sterilization; Real-time monitoring; powered by a fully integrated innovative solar /wind/diesel hybrid power plant. The plant is mounted on a mobile trailer.

AcquaSmart water treatment plant is a must for remote villages with difficult access, where piped drinking water systems will not be established in the foreseeable future. Also, for villages with dispersed households spread over difficult terrain, where piped systems are expensive to establish and maintain; or those without central grid electricity.

The system’s fresh drinking water meets World Health Organisation (WHO) standards. www.regenpower.com Phone: 1300 876 354

SolarMax “maximised” for Australia Swiss company Sputnik Engineering manufactures grid-connected solar inverters sold under the name SolarMax. Products include PV plants on single-family homes to megawatt solar power plants, communication and monitoring solutions, and software tools.

Having already implemented a number of successful projects in Australia, the company opened a new branch office in Sydney in October 2012.

Gavin Merchant, Key Account Manager Australia said: “The Australian market has a huge growth potential … the current share of renewable energies in the energy mix is a mere nine percent [and] we want to contribute in the development of RE … first and foremost in the field of small PV plants.”

He is responsible for promoting the collaboration with local installers and dealers and increasing sales of SolarMax products, with an immediate focus on the residential and commercial area using SolarMax string inverters which can be used indoors or outdoors and record high efficiency of up to 98%. www.solarmax.com Phone: 02 8867 3168.

46 | ISSUE 1 • 2013

SolPac – Cost-savingin-a-box for national solar professionals You’re on a client’s roof for what should be a fast solar install when you realise you’re low on DC cable or missing an adaptor. Instead of moving to your next job, you’re on the phone trying to locate the nearest electrical wholesaler and watching your margins slip …

Enter SolPac, designed by electricians for electricians, SolPac cost-effectively delivers all solar components necessary to complete any installation in one convenient box.

SolPac was established by Australian owner-operators David Rogers and Scott Ferguson, who spent eight years working with True Value Solar. They have completed more than 20,000 solar installations with over 180,000 solar panels.

SolPac is the all-in-one pre-packaged solution to get installations competed fast – simply arrive, grab your SolPac, and start installing. Each SolPac is universally tailored for all inverter and system sizes nationally, including everything needed to get the job done and to keep installing more systems.

Issues each year Circulated to Read by up to

4 5000 18,000

solar specialists

CEO David Rogers says, “It is all about efficiency and bottom line. After doing so many installs and seeing how much productivity we lost when sourcing materials we could see this was something the industry needed. We started by pre-preparing packages for ourselves and decided to bring that advantage to the industry at large.”

SolPac Director Scott Ferguson added: “Solar retailers need to keep costs down but it’s also imperative to stay ahead of changes. SolPac delivers quality at a premium, while not just meeting but exceeding industry standards.”

Each SolPac includes: European 1000V 32amp DC Isolators (ESV 130037, IEC 60947-1); AC Circuit Breakers; Sheathed corrugated conduit; Single TUV Cable; Corrugated adaptors; W/P AC Isolator; Nylon gland; DEK Tights; Label pack, lock dog and more.

Label packs and components are region-specific, and all SolPac products conform to current and forthcoming industry AS5033 and AS3000 regulations. SolPac dispatches within 24 hours and guarantees their packs are cheaper than DIY sourcing. Time is money, so why waste both sourcing materials?

Before you do another solar installation, contact SolPac. www.solpac.com.au 13A Ceylon St, Nunawading Vic. Phone (03) 9877 0905

Advertisers’ Index Blue Sun Group 25 Bosch 3 EnaSolar Ltd 15 Enphase Energy 5 Global Sustainable Energy Solutions Pty Ltd 31 Goodwe Power Supply Technology 17 Infinity Solar 45 Power Pioneer Group 10 Regen Power Pty Ltd 29 SI Clean Energy Inside back cover SMA Australia Pty. Ltd Outside back cover Solar Inception 23 SolarClips 44 SOLCO Inside front cover Solpac Solutions 11 Sustainable Living & Lighting 33 Trina Solar Ltd 7 True Value Solar 13

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