Solar Progress Spring 2015

ISSN: 0729-6436

• Energy storage developments • Market matters • PV and SWH trends • Smart marketing tips INCORPORATING

• Solar heating worldwide

Spring 2015 Issue 3

THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE AUSTRALIAN SOLAR COUNCIL AND THE ENERGY STORAGE COUNCIL

Contents Australian Solar Council Welcome from CEO and Industry Guest

2

Saving Solar

14

Solar Council Chapter Reports

39

Solar Council advocacy

41

Solar Council Programs and Events

44

Solar Council Corporate Members

46

Save Solar Heroes 2015

48

Market Dynamics News and views

4

Market matters

8

PV and SWH installations and trends

10

Infographic: Energy storage and EV projections

16

Solar heating worldwide

4

Front cover: Colin Bromley, CJ Bromley Electrical Contractor

Ken Guthrie’s insights 38 Market intelligence Warwick Johnston of SunWiz

Energy Storage Council developments

40

18

26

An overview of the storage industry

By ESC President Steve Blume Storage news, case studies, newsmakers

20 26

Selectronic Australia’s five decades of success

27

30

Products and services: Century Yuasa Batteries

32

Schneider Electric Stace Tzamtzidis on the storage market 34 Redflow on flow batteries

36

Products and services Fronius and Jinko

SOLAR PROGRESS is published by the AUSTRALIAN SOLAR COUNCIL. www.solar.org.au ABN 32 006 824 148

Solar Progress advertising, subscription and membership enquiries contact: Joanna Joustra Business Development Manager Phone: 0402 938 401 joanna@solar.org.au

47

34

CEO John Grimes PO Box 231, Mawson ACT 2607 admin@solar.org.au Phone: 1300 768 204

Storage Progress advertising and membership enquiries contact: Lorrae Ingham ENERGY STORAGE COUNCIL Phone: 0411 407 514 lorrae@energystorage.org.au

SOLAR PROGRESS EDITOR: Nicola Card editor@solar.org.au nicola@solar.org.au CONTRIBUTORS: Steve Blume, Sean Frost, Ken Guthrie, Warwick Johnston, Penny Parle, Rob Selbie, Stace Tzamtzidis and Anthony Williams DESIGN & PRODUCTION Mitzi Mann

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 Australian Solar Council. Although every effort is made to check the authenticity and accuracy of articles, neither the Solar Council nor the editors are responsible for any inaccuracy.

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

John Grimes Chief Executive, Australian Solar Council It’s all about the Business Bottom Line IT SOMETIMES SEEMS as though the political machinations around solar are never ending. And while it is true politicians can wreck our short-term future, it is also true that if we are not making sales today we won’t be here for the long term.

That is why the Solar Council is focused on helping our member companies succeed and supporting our individual members.

For our corporate members the best thing we can do is support them in selling. It goes beyond making sure technical rules and pricing schemes do not lock our members out.

We support Renewable Energy Certificates traders, manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors (across solar and energy storage), to find and keep customers. We help installers find quality suppliers, and run the most efficient business that they can. We work hard to make sure installers are properly trained and supported, even as standards shift over time.

We want the public to understand solar ‘value’ not just ‘sticker price’. So they get the best long-term solar and storage outcomes they can.

We are here for ‘the good guys’. People committed to the long-term success of our industry. We are also here for our individual members, many who have been around since the beginning, keeping the flame alive before there was even a mainstream solar market. Supporting them through events, news alerts, networking, our magazine and free to attend conference.

For the rest of this year you will see more on ‘how to choose a quality solar panel’ and ‘how to choose a quality solar installer’ as we promote our solar members. We will also be putting out guides on ‘selecting a battery system for your home or business’.

In the wash of the daily political cycle we can never lose sight of the realities of business. Only by delivering a good long-term outcome for our customers, and closing day to day sales, do we thrive in the short term.

Guest Editorial HISTORY IS REPEATING ITSELF. During the stagnant Howard the board to increase the uptake of renewable energy and to look years the state governments picked up the gauntlet of for and assist emerging industries to get ready to commercialise climate policy. The same is happening again: Victoria, in the state. More recently recognising that we are on the cusp South Australia and the ACT are taking the lead on of an energy revolution, Adelaide City Council is offering direct dealing with climate change. incentives for installing Solar PV, installing battery storage Taking a long-term view, Victoria recently released its and other initiatives such as energy efficiency upgrades for Renewable Energy Roadmap committing to a minimum of apartments and electric vehicle charge controllers.

20 per cent renewables by 2020. The state government’s While the federal government hides behind hollow policies efforts to secure more permanent jobs and build a broader and spin in the lead up to the December Conference of economy that is not so reliant on its vast coal resources is the Parties in Paris, these three states have trumped to be applauded. The increase in the Energy Savings their lack of real action whether it be Direct Action Scheme also adds impetus to the overarching or NOT! policy intent.

Fiona O’Hehir is CEO of Greenbank Not to be outdone, the latest commitment Environmental, the independent creator and by the ACT government to be powered trader of renewable energy certificates and by 100 per cent renewables by 2025 credits which to date total more than 17 is great news for the territory and its million and have helped finance more than citizens. It shows their commitment 140,000 clean energy installations for home to decarbonisation of their electricity and business. consumption and represents a significant investment in new and emerging economic opportunities.

Fiona O’Hehir of Greenbank Environmental Now to my home state of South Australia, where we must pay tribute to their forward thinking and commitment to getting investment into the state. In 2009 the SA government committed $20 million to a vehicle called Renewables SA with the specific aim of

2 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

Your business is the centre of our universe.

At Yingli, we’ve always moved heaven and earth to support our installers.

So, it’s with great pride we now introduce our YINGLI 4 YOU Partner Program.

As a certified partner, we’ll work collaboratively with you to give your business a competitive edge and a stellar future. To find out more, call Andrew Percival on 1300 309 489 or go to www.yingli4you.com.au

PA RT N E R P R O G R A M

Official Premium Partner Program of Yingli

Local and global news Another bright, sunny day at Uterne

Different perspectives

Owned by Australian renewable energy

US President Barack Obama has declared climate change the greatest threat facing the world and ordered power plant owners to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 32 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030… in “the single most important step America has ever taken in the fight against global climate change”.

Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has set a US target for half a billion solar panels by the end of her first term with a green power plan for a 700 per cent increase in installed solar capacity to about 140 gigawatts.

Meanwhile the Abbott government is reviewing a series of recommendations that would curtail development of wind farms and has announced an emissions reduction target of 26 per cent by 2030 on 2005 levels. Numbers the Climate Council describe as “vastly inadequate” and according to Tim Flannery “way out-of-line with the science, leaving us free-riding on the efforts of our trading partners like the USA, UK and the European Union”.

A Climate Institute poll found two in three Australians say the federal government should take climate change more seriously.

company Epuron Solar, the 1 MW Uterne solar plant at Alice Springs has been expanded to 4.1 MW. The 3.1 MW expansion (‘Uterne 2’) uses solar-tracking technology that increases

Epuron’s Martin Poole and Andrew Durran

daily energy production by up to 30 per cent compared with conventional fixed-tilt installations and is poised to feed power into the local grid and meet the needs of about 1100 homes.

In the local Arrente language, Uterne means “bright sunny day”.

Moree Solar farm Work is now underway to build Australia’s largest solar array, the 56 MW Moree Solar Farm which on completion in early 2016 will feature 222,880 panels for use a single-axis horizontal tracking system.

The 280 hectare farm in NSW will supply 140,000 MWh a year and abate 95,000 tonnes of carbon pollution. The $164 million

project has been part-funded by ARENA with a $102 million grant and the CEFC provided $47 million in debt financing.

JA Solar which is supplying highperformance polycrystalline panels describes the project as “a significant step” in its involvement in the Australian renewable energy sector.

Remote mine, significant step: Under construction at Sandfire Resources’ DeGrussa mine in WA is a 10.6 MW solar plant with 6 MW of battery storage, which will become Australia’s largest solar battery storage project. See page 26.

Powering utility Large scale investments The CEFC has committed $78.8 million in 72.5 MW of large-scale solar projects valued at $231.4 million and is looking at additional investment opportunities valued at more than $200 million.

This includes collaborating with ARENA on its $100 million program to support the development of up to 200 MW of largescale solar in Australia.

The CEFC has also joined forces with Origin Energy to progress deployment of solar energy through a 12-year $100 4 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

million financing commitment offering power purchase agreements to business and residential customers.

Meanwhile a $50 million asset finance agreement between CEFC and money lender Firstmac targets finance for highly efficient cars and light vehicles, solar PV and energy efficient equipment in buildings.

Leasing for solar thermal, including for hot water, and batteries for solar storage is also eligible.

In a bid to reflect “the company’s commitment to decarbonisation and investment in renewable energy,” AGL’s Melbourne offices have been fitted with a 90 kW PV array that will generate about 110,000 kWh of electricity annually and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 145 tonnes of CO2 a year.

Salt storage University of SA researchers have picked up the coveted Eureka Prize for Innovative Use of Technology by developing a low-cost energy storage solution that uses salt. The phase change energy storage technology uses surplus electricity to freeze salt compact coils inside a storage tank, not unlike the old-style electric hot water heaters.

Sell More: Budget Buster Solar Finance

ASM MONEY SALES

MARKETING

FINANCE

For more information on how you could sell more solar using the ASM Money Budget Buster Solar Finance Solution call 1300 08 01 63 to talk with one of our solar finance consultants or email enquiry@asmmoney.com.au

$0 DEPOSIT • SAVING ON ELECTRICITY • TAX BENEFIT • GST BENEFIT If you could say to your clients “I can install a solar system for you today with no deposit and, after finance and other costs, you could be in front by $8,000 in the first year” how many more sales could you close?

With the ASM Money Budget Buster Solar Finance Solution businesses considering solar who turn over less than $2M and have been in business for 2 years or more may qualify for up to $20,000 without financials or asset backing. With savings in tax, GST and electricity, they could install a 15kW solar system with no deposit and after repayments could be $8,000 in front every year after.

Year 1 Electricity Savings

$6,475

Direct GST Savings

$2,000

Year 1 Tax Savings (based on federal budget and interest deductions)

$6,501

Year 1 Repayments

$6,333

Year 1 benefit after all costs

$8,913

Ongoing benefits Year 2 to 5 benefit after all costs Total 25 year savings

$1,770 $138,838

Disclaimer: Calculations based on purchase price of $1.47 a watt and savings assume unit kWH cost of $0.28 with average production of a 15kW system in zone 3. Actual repayments and production may vary. Subject to credit criteria.

Call your local ASM Money consultant to talk about this potential today.

 Quick answers

 Speed to Settlement

 Low costs

Local and global news Lofty plans

Dual purpose

Facebook changed the face of the world and is now taking to the skies. It is testing its solarpowered drone which has a 42 metre wingspan – the same as Boeing 737 – that will provide internet access to the most remote areas as part of the “mission to connect everybody in the world”.

The Aquila aircraft, which weighs less than a car and can stay in the air for 90 days but must constantly move to stay aloft, will hover in circles between 18,000 and 27,000 metres above the altitude of commercial aeroplanes, unaffected by “problematic” weather. Helium balloons will be

The Dutch SolaRoad project hopes to turn some roads into solar panels which absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity for street lighting, traffic systems, households and electric vehicles. The first prototype was developed and tested in a laboratory in 2010 and today SolaRoad is being developed as prefabricated slabs: concrete modules 2.5 by 3.5 metres with a translucent top layer of tempered glass about one centimetre thick, under which sits crystalline silicon solar cells.

The top layer has to be translucent for sunlight yet repel dirt as much as possible, also be skid resistant and a safe robust road surface.

The SolaRoad team says if all suitable roofs in the Netherlands were equipped with solar panels they could only supply a quarter of Dutch electricity demand but if 140,000 kilometres of roads covering 400 to 500 square kilometres were added to the mix “great potential comes into existence, creating a complementary market for solar panels”.

attached to the plane and float it up to 27,000 metres; at night it will drift down to 18,000 metres to conserve energy.

It is believed Facebook is liaising with policy makers to help set guidelines to avoid policy or legal hurdles.

Sunny days for IKEA In November in Canberra IKEA opens the doors on its newest and most sustainable store. Equipped with 2000 solar panels that in summer are anticipated to generate 100 per cent of the energy used by the store, the power

plant will save 845 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. Sky lights and LED lights form part of the initiatives under the IKEA People and Planet Positive Strategy in which the store aims to be energy neutral by 2020.

Powering on … and on

Radio host Denis Walter presented Phil and Trish of Solar for RVs with the Momentum Energy Small Business Success Awards.

So much for ‘early retirement’ for engineer Phil Chapallaz and his wife Trish. Instead of taking it easy they decided to test the water for a new business. Now they are working 16-hour days, seven days a week in their new venture Solar for RVs, supplying solar PV for commercial and recreational vehicles, including a fleet of electric boats in Perth. Every room in their otherwise spacious house on the outskirts of Melbourne, laughed Trish, contains boxes with parts

6 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

waiting to be assembled or shipped. Even the bedroom is piled high with boxes.

Solar for RVs was selected by Small Business Victoria as part of the 2015 Faces of Small Business Exhibition, which profiles 10 successful small businesses from across the state and this year showcased “responsible, ethical and sustainable businesses that are doing good deeds for their staff, their customers, their environment, their community, and their world”.

Please keep us up-to-date on your company developments: editor@solar.org.au

Makes everything work.

For me.

Peter W., certified installer

For me the details make the difference. The new BPT-S string inverters can be setup easily and fast with an unique RFID “e.Key” card and work with touchless gesture control for effortless and reliable operation. The “hard facts” are convincing too: High efficiency rates, up to 2 MPP trackers, and an integrated data logger, just to name a few.

Taking it further, there is the BPT-S 5 Hybrid. It combines high efficiency inverter technology and lithium-ion batteries to store the power generated by the solar system. That’s technology made by Bosch. Read more at bosch-power-tec.com or bosch-solar-storage.com

Market matters

“The world is at a tipping point. Solar, smart systems, battery information technology and energy all combined will have profound effects and represents the biggest transformation.”

Image: Todae Solar’s installation at Stockland in Shellharbour, NSW

Solar energy: quenching community thirst

Evidence suggests more and more citizens are concerned about the consequences of inadequate action on greenhouse emissions and are voting in favour of renewable energy as the way forward. Targets are now being set in states across Australia that will drive a cleaner future.

Over the coming months several significant events will sharpen the focus on solar and renewable energy: the lead up to the 2016 federal election; the materialisation of state aspirations; and on a global level in December the “last chance” to commit to realistic emissions reductions. All of which are preceded by one rather significant federal by–election. More on that in a moment. First – some of the smoke and mirrors over emissions at the federal level.

Announced with “economically responsible” measures in mind the federal government is setting a greenhouse emissions reduction target of a minimum 26 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, with the possibility of a 28 per cent target depending on economic costs. But what does this translate to in terms of positive action?

According to the Climate Change Authority that figure represents just a 19 per cent cut below 2000 levels by 2030, and is a target that Australia should be trying to achieve within five, not 15 years. The CCA also states it is less than half the 40-60 per cent reduction for 2030 that is necessary and which they recommend. The consensus among other environmental commentators is that the target is way off track: “pathetically inadequate”, “dangerously out of step”, “reckless and illogical,” and leaves Australia “horribly exposed to the economic and technology changes that are sweeping the world”.

With its predominantly coal fired power stations, Australia’s per capita emissions and emissions intensity are already among the worst in the

Popular vote Various vox pops continue to highlight that the masses – the population of Australia – grasp the imperative of a future driven by clean energy.

One recent example: Galaxy poll’s Climate of the Nation 2015 in which almost seven in ten said that ignoring [the threat posed by] climate change increases the risk of the situation getting worse, and two in three saying that reducing investment in wind farms and householder solar power, which is the government’s preferred direction, is the opposite of what is needed. The poll also found that the majority wants to see more investment in solar and other renewable energy resources.

CEO of The Climate Institute John Connor echoes the views of the community stating “Solar’s appeal is broad. Studies have shown photovoltaic (PV) panels are more likely to power up on the roofs of families in lower income suburbs than in wealthier suburbs. Solar has the allure of the future, and also of independence.”

And we are not short of resources, as GetUp’s Paul Oosting points out: “[We have] enough clean energy to power the country 500 times over. It’s time we start tapping into that resource and leave the dirty sack of coal behind.” If it were not for the increasing number of state governments heading in the right direction by setting ever-higher renewables targets, the outlook could appear bleak.

world, yet the Prime Minister reiterates he’s unwilling to “sacrifice the

States of the nation

economy for the sake of the environment”.

Queensland’s new Labor government which was largely voted in due to

All eyes are now on the federal seat of Canning south of Perth where residents – who have wholeheartedly embraced solar energy – go to the polls and effectively deliver a scorecard on the federal government of the

the strong pro-solar vote has set a 50 per cent renewable energy target and developed a blueprint to achieve the goal.

And in a strong sign of industry support Victoria has set a goal of 20

day. Campaigners says the gap is closing in the once Liberal stronghold

per cent renewables by 2020 – however grey skies surround the prospect

and they are determined there will be only one winner: solar and

of feed-in tariffs for solar power exported to the grid being slashed to 5

renewables.

cents per kWh from January 2016, down from 6.2 cents per kWh. A move,

8 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

Commercial Solar that Means Business Superior project economics.

Increased energy harvest. Higher system availability. Lower material and labour costs.

Powering What’s Next

TM

Find out more: enphase.com/au/commercial

Continental divides

says Solar Council CEO John Grimes that “delivers a transfer of wealth from solar PV owners to electricity retailers.” Others say this punishes households that are providing clean, renewable energy back into the grid. Solar support, it seems, see-saws from one day to the next. A similar scenario looms in NSW where D-day for those with solar is January 2017 when the feed-in tariff plummets as low as 4 cents per kWh for some.

Change appears to be in the air in Western Australia where Energy Minister Mike Nahan, better known for his negative views on solar PV, recently forecast that solar PV would meet the state’s daytime electricity within a decade, displacing many of the state’s coal generators. It remains to be seen how policies might be amended to reflect the sentiment.

Progressive states and territory governments are leading the way.

Demonstrating leadership in climate and clean energy initiatives is the ACT government which has upped its goal of 90 per cent renewables by 2020 to 100 per cent by 2025. A peak already largely scaled by Tasmania and over in sunny South Australia the trek to 50 per cent renewables by 2025 is well within reach.

And back to the federal arena where the Labor Party has announced that when elected to lead the party it will steer Australia in the popular direction of 50 per cent renewables by 2030.

Australia’s path to 50 per cent renewables The Solar Council’s John Grimes who believes the world is at a tipping point and that “Solar, smart systems, battery information technology and energy all combined will have profound effects and represents the biggest transformation” has mapped the path to 50 per cent renewables.

Accepting that the current Renewable Energy Target will deliver 23 per cent of electricity, the addition of existing hydro, and rooftop solar PV takes the nation closer to 30 per cent by 2020. Where does the additional 20 per cent come from over the following decade? The good news is much of it will be delivered via the economic rationale of solar PV and wind technology, John says, rather than specific policy support. For its part the Australian Energy Market Operator has illustrated the feasibility of 100 per cent renewables with existing technology, the grid managing high levels of renewables with variability of supply.

In August, US President Barack Obama staged a 10-day climate change focused tour during which he addressed a clean energy summit on the benefits of solar energy while attacking proponents of fossil fuels. Meanwhile over in the UK the conservative government was undermining renewables by proposing significant cuts to the feed-in tariff that could see residential rooftop solar support cut by 87 per and commercial by 82 per cent – despite UK polls demonstrating that solar is supported by eight in ten Brits.

The UK’s backward thinking is in contrast to Germany which has a target of 40-45 per cent renewables by 2025 and where numbers of subsidised solar power storage installations have increased by more than 35 per cent in twelve months due to lower prices, attractive incentives offered through the PV storage support system coupled with the desire for energy independence and cleaner energy.

Still on numbers: the European Union is reputedly on track to generate 50 per cent of its electricity from renewables by 2030.

Nations of the world converge on Paris in December at the UN Climate Change Conference with an objective to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate from all nations.

Other measures that would take Australia closer to 50 per cent renewables include emission standard laws; some form of carbon price; reverse auctions on large-scale renewable energy projects; stronger energy efficiency measures; ARENA and CEFC projects, state and territory government actions and uptake of energy storage at residential, commercial and industrial scale.

John Grimes quotes the Bureau of Resource and Energy Economics which predicts solar and wind will be among the lowest cost of all types of electricity generation within one or two decades; and BNEF which believes rooftop solar and battery storage are now on track to deliver half of Australia’s electricity needs by 2040. Another heavyweight, investment bank UBS, forecasts solar as the cheapest form of ‘new build’ energy, globally, within five years, with large-scale solar plants becoming industry standard over coal-fired power plants.

Enough of the future, where do we stand today? Market data on the following pages provide insights into the performance of PV and its close cousin solar hot water in recent years, the seasonal highs and lows; and if trends are anything to go by PV installers in some states could find themselves busier than normal over the next few weeks, meeting the community’s thirst for solar energy.

The PV and SWH Market Anthony Williams tracks movements in the market to show the trends in PV and Solar water heater installations in states across Australia.

PV systems and size OVER THE COURSE of the Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme, it has frequently been difficult to make a direct comparison between states because feed-in tariffs created a state based distortion. The timeframe shown in the Figure 1 on page 12 covers a period during which all states shown except SA had a feed-in tariff of less than half the residential retail

cost of electricity. SA’s premium feed-in tariff was available for systems installed by the end of January 2014, and the subsequent fall in systems, creating certificates can be clearly seen.

With the absence of feed-in tariffs, a seasonal trend may be emerging in some states, where PV systems creating certificates peak in spring and have a trough early in the new-year. This apparent trend is clearer in some Continues on page 12

10 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

Market matters Continued from page 10

Figure 1. Monthly PV systems creating STCs, by system size and state, January 2014 to July 2015 states than in others and will require analysis over a longer time frame to be confirmed.

Figure 1 also shows that the states remain significantly differentiated in terms of installations relative to the size of the state and the composition of those installations. Victoria has the highest level of systems creating certificates under 5 kW; Queensland is very heavily skewed to large domestic systems between 5 and 10 kW; while NSW and SA have the highest proportion of commercial PV systems i.e. those over 10 kW. Note: Most of the data used for this analysis comes from the Clean Energy Regulator’s data Figure 2. Monthly SWH systems creating certificates by state on systems creating small-scale technology certificates (STCs) and is used as a proxy for the number of systems being Certificates. While this may seem like ancient history, it is important when installed. There can be delays of up to one year between the time a the reason for installing the SWH system is taken into account. Figure 3 system is installed and when it creates certificates. Published data indicates shows us that the removal of subsidies appears to have only affected the however, that 85 per cent of systems create certificates within 60 days of replacement systems. installation.

Solar Water Heaters Figure 2 shows a longer-term trend for Solar Water Heaters (SWH) creating STCs. The longer-term trend indicates that there is a moderate seasonal cycle for SWH installations, falling late in the year and increasing again in late summer to autumn.

Figure 2 also shows that the number of SWH systems creating certificates has been relatively consistent over the past three year to June, averaging fewer than 62,000 systems annually.

This figure is significantly smaller that the peak of SWH systems creating certificates during the era of GFC response subsidies which had both state and federal subsidies for householders, as well as Renewable Energy

Reason for installing SWH

Figure 3 illustrates the extent to which it is likely that many of the systems installed using GFC subsidies were likely to have been installations brought forward, therefore creating a depressive effect on the number of installations during subsequent years.

When a household does not proactively replace an existing hot water system before it fails, it increases the likelihood of them replacing it with a like-for-like system due to the delay from the additional plumbing work required to install a SWH system.

The increase in photovoltaic, which started in 2010, would also have an effect on reducing SWH installations due to the diversion of household discretionary spending.

While the SWH replacement market remains an important market segment, it is now comparable to the New Building market. This highlights the importance of indirect support for SWH systems via the building standards. While only SA specifically mandates the installation of a SWH in new homes, most states have building rating systems which strongly encourage their installation.

There is a strong correlation between each state’s percentage of building approvals and their percentage of SWH systems installed.

Also see article on global solar thermal heating on page 38.

Figure 3. Reason for installing SWH system

12 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

Anthony Williams is Manager Environmental Markets, Green Energy Trading, http://greenenergytrading.com.au/

Solar Supporters

Saving Solar: Let the people decide The heat is on. Solar and storage are commanding enormous interest in the community and in the media. The Solar Council continues to campaign for positive solar policies.

IN LATE JULY the ALP held its bi-annual conference and it was there Opposition leader Bill Shorten declared the party’s support for 50 per cent renewables by 2030 which was greeted with a standing ovation.

Granted, he was among the party faithful but with all evidence pointing to widespread community support for renewables he could have been addressing any public gathering in Australia and still drawn the same enthusiastic response.

The target was hailed by John Grimes as “A visionary announcement and the right announcement economically, environmentally and socially... this is a game changer for Australia’s economy.”

It is no coincidence the Solar Council had been in discussions with key Labor Ministers in the lead up to the ALP Conference. But Bill Shorten has also tuned in to the mood of the electorate, saying “People want healthier cities and longer lives, skills, jobs … tie that in with the increasing importance of sustainability; Australians want their government to deliver what they want and part of it is renewable energy.

“Our target of fifty per cent by 2030 is eminently sensible, climate change is real and investing in renewables is so important.”

The governments of Victoria, Queensland, SA and ACT have committed to renewable energy targets and the ACT recently laid a trump card by announcing a goal of 100 per cent renewables by 2025.

Speaking at the ALP event Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio committed to 20 per cent by 2030. South Australia leads in clean energy, and Premier Jay Weatherill commented on the Solar Council’s “exciting and productive campaign” which was growing momentum.

Queensland Deputy Jackie Trad pledged one million rooftops by 2030, saying Queensland’s goal of 50 per cent renewables by 2030 “will not be hard to achieve”.

During the event, NSW Opposition Luke Foley, Solar Citizens organiser Claire O’Rourke, and Labor Environmental Action Network (LEAN) Co-convenor Felicity Wade shared their ambitions for solar energy.

Bill Shorten gained a standing ovation for his proposed renewables target.

Top image: Hundreds turned out on a cold grey Saturday morning to demonstrate their support for renewable energy where John Grimes announced: “The secret weapon is you the people – together we will lead Australia to the clean energy future it deserves.”

Planning for Canning Focus has now shifted to the by-election in the marginal seat of Canning in Western Australia, half of whose population have invested in solar panels or hot water systems. Impressive numbers that position Canning twelfth highest on the nation’s tally of solar uptake.

The once safe Liberal seat now teeters on a 2 per cent margin. A gust of wind – a show of solar – could well tip the balance. As one reporter cast it: the Canning by-election is Liberal’s litmus test. Another: “It will become a referendum on Abbott”, who recently reiterated “one of the things that will benefit the world in the years and decades to come is if there is a greater use of Australian coal.”

But the electorate has seen the light, and as John Grimes told reporters: “Half of Canning voters have solar, the other half want to slash their power bills with solar and the electorate is taking a stand. Early this year it was Queensland’s turn, now Canning has the chance. It is high time the federal government committed itself to good solar policy. We will support any political party with a good solar policy.”

Going forward

Mark Butler: “Renewable energy is a vital part of Australia’s future, it provides jobs in the sector and to a host of support industries.”

14 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

In the lead up to the 2016 federal election the Solar Councils’ increasingly popular Save Solar campaign will target 20 marginal federal seats. What do Save Solar campaigns involve? A Save Solar Community Forum (attracting hundreds of concerned locals); letterbox drops with a Solar Scorecard; advertisements in local and state papers; strong targeted social media campaigns; and radio advertising (resources permitting). The Solar Council also maximises free media opportunities.

Need an energy storage system solution now?

• An overview of Energy Storage ESC President Steve Blume • DeGrussa copper mine’s 6 MW battery storage • Storage news and case studies • Industry reports by AEMO and AECOM/ARENA • Selectronic Australia’s five decades of success • Schneider Electric assesses the storage market

PHOTO BY PATRICK J. ENDRES COURTESY GOLDEN VALLEY ELECTRIC ASSN.

Founding members

IN SEPTEMBER THE ENERGY STORAGE COUNCIL will release its Global Energy Storage Market Overview & Regional Summary Report. The Report is designed to give readers an overview of the current state of energy storage technologies and markets globally.

The Report has been produced in collaboration with major international energy storage organisations and experts including the US Energy Storage Association, California Energy Storage Alliance, China Energy Storage Alliance, DNV GL, European Association for Storage of Energy, India Energy Storage Alliance and the National Electrical Communications Association.

Gold members

The Report will be available to members and partners of all contributing organisations.

ESC focus on industry best practice Best practice for the energy storage industry is a key focus for the ESC. Led by Glen Morris, ESC Vice President and industry expert, the ESC best practice working group is currently discussing guidelines for the industry as an interim until the official standards are in place.

Silver members

Glen Morris is a member of the Standards Australia EL-42 committee, responsible for maintaining the Australian Standards for solar PV design and installation. This committee is also currently working on new draft Australian Standard for batteries AS/NZS 5139. Glen has gathered information and feedback from previous ESC working group meetings for review and consideration by the committee when drafting these new standards.

The ESC also recently met with the German Energy Storage Association (BVES) to discuss their ‘Safety Guidelines for Li-ion Home Battery Storage Systems’.

More information on this international reference can be found at http://www.bves.de/english/

Industry References The ESC has launched two new exciting features on its website www.energystorage.org.au This includes an energy storage product and services directory, enabling users to search through our members for specific products or services with ease.

And in our online newsroom we have included a new web page for industry case studies. This web page will be continuously updated with different and interesting energy storage project case studies.

More information on the Energy Storage Council can be found at www.energystorage.org.au or contact Lorrae Ingham at Lorrae@energystorage.org.au

18 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

Bronze members Clean Energy Solar Dynamic Solar Energy Invest Australia Enervision Australia EV Power Australia Greenlink Solar I Want Energy Infinity Power

K&L Gates MyPower MP Navitus Solar Off Grid Power Solutions Renewable Energy Installations Reposit Power Solar PV Commercial

SolarIM SolarQuotes Standard Solar Sunjuice Solar The Green House Effect TKSolar Towards Tomorrow

Energy Tropical Energy Solutions Wayne Kaufline ZAPD Energy

The ideal inverter for less-than-ideal roofs.

Your most challenging roof installs don’t have to be. With dual MPPT and a wide DC voltage, the ABB PVI 5000-6000 inverters bring a flexibility that is earning the loyalty of a growing number of installers. And new this year, easy-to install WIFI cards will enable users to track PV performance from their favorite mobile device. So even if you don’t always get the perfect roof, you should always be able to achieve the perfect install.

For more information call us at 1800-769-663 or visit: www.abb.com/solarinverters

Energy Storage – the hottest market in the world right now Steve Blume presents an overview of what is hot, what is not and says that what was old is new again... and why that matters.

ENERGY STORAGE IS THE HOTTEST MARKET in the world right now as the massive decarbonisation of energy systems takes off in all countries.

There are plenty of serious players, some well known and most not so well known, offering energy storage solutions as the complementary technology for all renewables, but solar PV especially.

Let me start with the most widely deployed and oldest energy storage solution around the world – and the least well recognised – hot water.

Around 30 per cent of domestic energy used in developed countries is to heat water, usually to less than 80°C, for use at under 50°C, and most often stored in tanks. There is another tranche of energy used for commercial hot water at that or a little higher temperature and in cool or cold northern hemisphere climates a significant amount used for space heating. That is primarily through the use of building level boilers in the USA and Europe, but with large district heating systems in Europe.

Whatever the end-use and whatever the scale these are massive energy storage systems and should be included in any discussions about renewable energy, distributed energy and how we are going to transition to the new grid we need. We know that the reason energy storage is the technology of today is because we have to manage the increasing variability and geographic dispersion of generation sources – it’s time to include hot water tanks at all scales and to see them as batteries too.

Hot water systems In some Australian jurisdictions we retain regulations that mandate the replacement of any electric resistance hot water system (HWS) with a solar, gas storage, gas instantaneous, or a heat pump HWS. This is a prime example of the folly of trying to make policy by picking technologies rather than describing outcomes and principles.

The principle involved here was primarily reduced emissions – but if the energy source is clean (from local PV or from the grid such as GreenPower

or eventually a clean grid) then an electric resistance HWS can be a highly suitable technology. We have a long way to go in Australia to get the necessary thermal properties of our storage tanks, but once we do then well-insulated larger tanks with power to the element coming from on-roof PV or GreenPower can both reduce bills and add resilience to the grid.

We can efficiently and cheaply store water heated with off-peak or PV output or other clean energy to provide enough water at 50°C for a family for a few days – a battery ‘invisible’ to most of us, but energy storage nevertheless.

Ah, you say, but storage is about ‘real batteries’ as we see in the news from Tesla. We all know these are ‘lithium batteries’, but do we really – which lithium-ion-derived chemistry do we mean? The most widely used in commercial energy storage applications is probably LiFePO4 (lithium ferrophosphate), but in the already commercial mix are more than half a dozen Li-ion energy storage chemistries with suitability to a wide range of applications. As always some will win and some will lose – and often not the ‘best’, but those which are ‘good enough’ and get into their target market at the right value.

Storage partners and resources Energy storage is in an exciting formative stage so there are many other battery chemistries and types with various applications that are in the market or well down the R&D and commercialisation path. As any ‘Googler’ will tell you these varied energy storage systems and technologies are finding a place in the smart distributed energy networks being built to decarbonise our electricity system. A good start for greater detail are sites of our US partner the Energy Storage Association (ESA) which is great source of information for those of us wanting more depth1, and the site of our EU partner European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE) for another perspective and excellent resources2.

The recent Deutsche Bank Report Solar Crossing the Chasm also gives us a highly accessible overview on the energy storage market3. The ESC will soon release its own overview report on Energy Storage supported by member DNV-GL.

“Any new electricity system, which will comprise distributed energy resources based on renewables and storage, must offer equivalent to or better than security and reliability of supply as the existing grid.”

Figure 1. Electrical Energy Storage Technologies 20 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

But why is energy storage so ‘hot’ – what are the problems we are trying to fix by adding storage solutions? Figure 2 from our colleagues at EASE offers a useful technical overview4.

These are focused on the grid impacts when mostly what we see in Australia is a massive ramping of demand in residential applications as a means to capture solar PV output for self-consumption when PV owners face loss of premium feed-in tariffs (FiTs) and the prospect of low export prices.

The Energy Storage Council (ESC) view is that we need to ensure residential and commercial storage deployments in Australia are managed so those ‘prosumers’ who invest over the coming years can Figure 2. EASE Storage applications get the greatest benefits possible. In doing so ESC hopes for increased collaboration and co-operation with retailers and networks so that system wide solar generation (~675 MW) capacity with a penetration of around benefits too can be identified, valued and shared with 30 per cent of all homes. There are fossil fuel generators with 2734 customers. The anticipated rapid take-up seems an ideal trigger to MW of gas generation capacity, a single coal facility of 546 MW to quickly engage in the transformational actions needed to change the be retired within the next three years, 270 MW of diesel and a tiny 3 ‘selling electrons’ model to a ‘selling energy services’ model for energy MW of hydro generation capacity. SA electricity demand ranges from companies.

790 MW and 3200 MW and its segment of the grid links to the NEM A recent report from the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) uses a new via two interconnectors currently of 680 MW capacity (to be increased term ‘flexiwatts’ and is a guide to the energy market is heading with in 2016-17). multiple players taking different roles – which appears to me an outline We have all seen the news reports when the renewables perform well, 5 of the ‘internet of energy’ I have spoken about in the past few years . A with common stories from Germany such as the recent 78 per cent of few utility businesses have taken early steps in that direction, but they demand being met6. From SA we have seen plenty stories such as the confront a significant trust deficit they will need to overcome – the ESC 100 per cent renewables meets whole day demand in 2014 and more and its Members are ready to be partners to assist that process. recent ones of high percentages of SA demand7. It is not uncommon at I hear the question already – but what about the ‘death spiral’? Aren’t times for SA to get 40 per cent or more of its demand from renewable we going to see an exodus from the grid as storage costs come down energy. This is all great news, but my story is a cautionary one aimed not and PV owners act to reclaim or continue to hold the income and/or at diminishing these great achievements, but to inject some reality into costs offsets they have enjoyed from their investment income from PV? the discussions and to highlight the complexity of meeting our inevitable In this we have choices and they require us all to take a long-term view target 90 per cent or 100 per cent renewables. and to understand how much we currently rely on the services the grid Few now disagree that we must rapidly transform our energy systems provides. This is especially so because my view is that any new electricity to decarbonise them and the faster we do so the better off we all shall system, which will comprise distributed energy (DE) resources based on be. The recently announced Labor target of 50 per cent renewables renewables and storage, must offer equivalent to or better than security by 2030, long advocated by the ASC, is necessary and eminently and reliability of supply as the existing grid. That is a very high bar in all achievable. To do so needs a solid understanding of the technical and developed countries, and certainly so in Australia. engineering challenges involved. Those challenges are not exemplified by the relatively minor impacts we have so far seen by the successful State of South Australia consumer focused PV and HWS deployments. It is sobering to note that South Australia (SA) is an icon of renewables deployment and clean although there has been a large growth in renewables with installed energy. We know that it has high wind generation (~1500 MW) which capacity (including hydro) of more than 16 per cent the contribution of supplies on average around 28 per cent of SA demand and is about renewables to meeting national electricity demand is still less than 2 per half of all wind generation capacity in Australia. SA also has high cent.

The SA example above clearly shows there is an excess of capacity in SA and with the most recent growth being from clean energy sources this must be a ‘good thing’ – right? If only it were so simple.

We have been installing large amounts of variable electricity supply with insufficient focus on the fundamentals of a secure and reliable electricity system as our grid operators know: the balance of supply and demand must be met at all times, we must maintain system voltage and frequency within standards and the rate of change of voltage and frequency must be tightly managed. Those technical principles also apply to any off-grid installation, micro-grids and to utility scale grids. In crude summary the consumers say ‘we want energy and we want it now’ and have the reasonable expectation they will get it.

“Energy storage is at an exciting formative stage so there are many … battery chemistries and types with various applications that are in the market or well down the R&D and commercialisation path.”

22 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

Your Energy Storage Solution If you need power you can rely on for your domestic or commercial applications, don’t look past BAE Batteries to provide you with uninterupted operations and the maximum service life available.

In Australia BAE has earned a reputation for supplying quality German built and engineered batteries for a diverse array of needs. These include RAPS, UPS, Emergency back-up, renewable energy storage for Stand-alone and hybrid grid connected systems. This is backed up by proven performance in the harshest environments around the globe.

R & J Batteries are proud to be the National distributor for the BAE tubular positive GEL range of products.

BAE PVV and OPzV cells are available in amp hour sizes from 121Ah(C10) to 4710Ah(C100). We can also offer wet DQG Ĺą DW SODWH %$( FHOOV LI UHTXLUHG

/ rjbatt.com.au / 1300 769 282 / bae@rjbatt.com.au

Electromobility Charging station in infastructure

Off-grid system Private Consumer, Solarpower plant

Telecom Radio & Telecomunications, Cellular phone stations

7UDIÄ&#x; F 7HFKQRORJ\

5HJXODWLQJ V\VWHPV 7UDIĹ° F OLJKWV (PHUJHQF\ FDOO stations

Information/Advertising Illuminated posters, Rotary displays, Prism reverser

Back-Up & Critical power Uninterupted power supply

Delivering power The NEM has managed this expectation extremely well over many years with those interruptions to supply that do occur being more than 75 per cent due to such as things as extreme weather events and human activities that disrupt supply. This robustness and resilience of the NEM is why it has been able to absorb large amounts of DE over the past five years, including the 4 GW ‘people’s solar power plant’ of rooftop PV, with barely a blip overall, albeit with some network areas seeing considerable strains.

The happy ending to my story is that the strength of this base level of the existing grid and generating resource has also protected SA and the NEM from the vagaries of RE generation – including two recent events involving wind generation output in SA. Over the past few months we have seen one period of more than 73 hours (three days) of effectively no output at all from SA wind generators, then a short period of ‘normal output’ followed by another near-three days of close to maximum output8.

“Few now disagree that we must rapidly transform our energy systems to decarbonise them and the faster we do so the better off we all shall be. The recently announced Labor target of 50 per cent renewables by 2030, long advocated by the Solar Council, is necessary and eminently achievable.”

That almost no one noticed and that this event was invisible to consumers is a tribute to the electricity network, but should be noted and absorbed by all of us in the renewable energy business as an exemplar at a safe and manageable scale of what we must plan for as we re-design and re-jig the network for massively increased RE deployment.

The lesson from all this is that energy storage technologies play a critical role in decarbonising and modernising our electricity supply system.

There is a huge range of energy storage solutions available for immediate deployment and even more that are on the cusp of being so. The energy storage application range is equally diverse, from residential and small commercial scale to the largest utility scale systems. We need to add into that the coming wave of energy storage potential wrapped inside various transport modes with EV cars, trucks and bikes being planned and built by every major manufacturer and many who have yet to make their mark.

Nearly all will find a niche if they can get to a commercial stage and there are plenty of great sales and business opportunities.

The Energy Storage Council and the Australian Solar Council will increase their engagement in the political, policy and regulatory arenas with the aim of building a reliable and secure energy supply that is as clean as we can make it and at the least cost. Doing so will create new jobs in regional Australia and offer transitional paths for workers in those parts of the energy sector who face declining participation. Those workers and their families will have a great future through the successes of our renewables businesses – solar and energy storage are the foundation of that new energy world.

For more detailed insights, see the Energy Storage Council report on Energy Storage supported by member DNV-GL. Steve Blume is President of the Australian Solar Council and Energy Storage Council.

References 1http://energystorage.org/energy-storage/energy-storage-technologies 2http://www.ease-storage.eu/technologies.html 3https://www.db.com/cr/en/docs/solar_report_full_length.pdf 4 http://www.ease-storage.eu/applications.html

and

http://www.ease-storage.eu/Technical_Documents.html 5http://www.rmi.org/electricity_demand_flexibility 6http ://energytransition.de/2015/07/renewables-covered-78percent-of-german-

electricity/ 7http ://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/south-australia-hits-100-renewables-for-a-

whole-working-day-86069 8http://www.wattclarity.com.au

24 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

Back to the future Michael Berris of SA based Giant Power told Storage Progress “I thought I might show you where the action is today. It’s off the roof and in the garage. We are now building five to ten of these systems each week.

“The image here is an off grid system designed to take all of the client’s essential circuits off the grid. A 6 kWp array feeding 8 kW of inverter with a 450ah 48V battery bank, It will return the client over 16 per cent annually by allowing him as a side benefit to maximise return on his feed in tariff. It permanently removes that load from the grid, eliminating the former impact of the household bringing all its appliances on line at dusk and permanently reduces the impact of start up current after blackouts.

“The customer wins, the network wins and the installer wins. We’ve been doing this for some time, so welcome back to the future!”

Michael specialises in Off Grid & Hybrid, Aussie Batteries & Solar, www.giantpower.com.au

STORAGE : the missing link A round-up of storage developments, news and views.

Landmark mine: DeGrussa Solar and battery storage is about to take a quantum leap with the installation of 6 MW of battery storage and a 10.6 MW solar plant at the DeGrussa copper mine.

Located 900 kilometres north-east of Perth, Sandfire Resources’ DeGrussa copper mine project is described as a unique combination of an off-grid high capacity solar power array fully integrated with an existing diesel-fired power station. Up to 34,080 solar PV panels (on single axis tracking technology) will cover more than 20 hectares of land.

Juwi will build and operate the solar and battery facility and Perth based OTOC will undertake online assembly. French firm Neoen will sell the solar power generated to Sandfire Resources at a fixed rate that will be lower than the cost of running diesel-generated power.

“Like any major economywide change, the storage megashift will carry with it risks and disruptions.

The good news is Australia is ideally placed to account for these, and take full advantage of a battery boom that could rival the PV rooftop revolution.”

26 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

When the switch is flicked in early 2016, the plant should be able to provide the majority of Sandfire’s daytime electricity requirements and will offset five million litres of diesel abating more than 12,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

The $40 million project – Australia’s largest to date – is backed by CEFC to the tune of $15 million and according to CEO Oliver Yates showcases “the significant potential for off-grid renewables in regional and remote Australia”.

Energy Storage Council CEO John Grimes agrees, stating “Obviously the economics of storage in remote mining applications is compelling … it has implications for the impact of the technology across the whole range of off-grid and micro-grid applications. This is one very large, significant development.”

ARENA which earmarked $20.9 million for the DeGrussa project is eyeing up similar opportunities in remote locations, noting that renewables are already competitive with fossil fuels in many off-grid applications. “And [renewables] offer a strong, secure and reliable alternative to trucked-in diesel,” says CEO Ivor Frischknecht.

An AECOM report commissioned by ARENA highlighted that remote industries in Australia currently rely on 1.2 GW of power from diesel fuel which is costly and prone to price volatility and supply interruptions, so the business case for renewables [coupled with energy storage] as a means to offset fuel use is strong. The renewable off-grid market could grow to over 200 MW in the short to medium term and over 1 GW in the longer term.

And that is good news all round.

Frischknecht maintains the “march of renewables” goes hand in hand with jobs and economic growth, and that Australia, with high levels of rooftop PV and off-grid communities, is an ideal laboratory and test market for storage technology.

For its part, Bloomberg New Energy Finance estimates that to meet Australia’s 33,000 GWh Renewable Energy Target, nearly 7.75 GW of new large-scale capacity will need to be built by 2020, requiring an investment of around $14 billion. Off-grid and mining industries seem ripe for the picking.

Magellan’s move

Just 2 per cent of Australia’s population live in off-grid areas yet more than 6 per cent of the country’s total electricity is consumed in off-grid areas.

Source: AECOM/ARENA

Energy Made Clean

Best known for its large projects at mines, universities and hospitals, Perth based Magellan Power has now moved into residential and commercial storage. The Residential Energy Storage System ‘RES1’ incorporates a 5 kW hybrid inverter and the option of a 9.2 or 13.8 kilowatt-hour lithium iron phosphate battery which they say can be installed in a garage, or beside a house under the eaves.

During the past seven years Magellan has been pioneering the use of lithium-ion phosphate batteries for industrial back-up power and points to the battery’s ability to operate in temperatures up to 70°C which is “perfect” for remote Australian applications.

Magellan Power introduced lithium to its products in 2008 and since then their use in commercial and industrial back up power applications has been increasing rapidly. Over the past seven years Magellan has supplied lithium to projects for Rio Tinto, Nilsen, CSIRO, Ergon Energy, ABB, BHP Billiton, WA Police and Lend Lease.

Still in Perth, Energy Made Clean is supplying a 1.1 MWh lithium-ion battery storage system to a sustainable community development of 500 houses at Alkimos Beach north of Perth.

Lendlease, Landcorp and energy retailer Synergy have a stake in the fouryear 46.7 million energy storage trial which is partly funded by ARENA and will assess the merits of integrating energy storage into a traditional network.

EMC CEO John Davidson anticipates the grid-connected storage system will be up and running by December and says the trial offers participating residents virtual energy storage; rebates for solar PV and SWH and energy efficient appliances. Users will be able to monitor generation and usage via an energy display unit and check variable power prices.

EMC has already completed many significant commercial-scale and off-grid solar plus storage projects, predominantly in WA. The company is however in the process of establishing an office in Brisbane, which will be run by a micro grid specialist, John Davidson told Solar Progress. And in other developments EMC is launching its “plug and play, ready to go” range of battery storage systems to the local agricultural community with the prospect of targeting fringe-of-grid and grid replacement customers.

Solar Progress | 27

Energy market and storage reports The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) Emerging Technologies Information Paper (National Electricity Forecasting) assesses the potential impact on annual operational consumption and maximum demand in the National Energy Market (NEM), in the residential sector, of emerging technologies of battery storage and electric vehicles. The paper also reviews the emerging trend of fuel switching (from gas and electricity to just electricity).

The report states that modelling battery storage is challenging because the market is in its infancy and lacks a mechanism for tracking numbers of installations. However AEMO has developed the first step of its economic model to estimate the uptake of battery storage:

Forecast (new) installed capacity of battery storage (MWh) Source: AEMO Qld

NSW

SA

Vic

Tas

2017–18

129

201

2

188

9

NEM 529

2024–25

982

1043

206

1131

83

3445

2034–35

2046

2482

484

2774

196

7982

Projections for Integrated PV and Storage Systems (IPSS) take-up and payback Source: AEMO IPSS Payback (years)

Rooftop PV payback (years)

Small

Medium

Large

4 kW system

18

14

10

6.9

Qld NSW

24

15

9

8.1

SA

14

11.5

9

6.1

Vic

20

15

11

7.0

Tas

29

23

16

10.2

Data shows: • That NSW has the highest forecast rate, with 37% and 61% of IPSS in 2017–18 and 2024–25 respectively.

• By 2035 NSW has the largest percentage of installed rooftop PV (72%) integrated with battery storage.

• IPSS in Victoria is forecast to comprise 27% of new installations in 2017–18, and 50% by 2024–25, but this represents just 8% and 30% of total households that have rooftop PV. • By 2035 it is estimated that although 45% of residential rooftop installations will also have battery storage, this represents just 29% of total rooftop PV installed capacity.

Making the switch The AEMO report suggests limited fuel switching (replacement of gas-powered appliances with electric-powered ones for water and space heating and cooking) based on the relatively low proportion of households eligible to switch and high capital cost of efficient electric appliances.

For the foreseeable future the uptake of EVs is not anticipated to be significant. What is interesting is that South Australia is expected to lead the charge with 167,045 EVs in 2035 and is followed by Victoria then NSW and Queensland.

28 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

Significant storage case studies supported by ARENA Located 600 kilometres off the east coast, Lord Howe Island is small and remote, but has big plans for its future energy supplies.

Today it relies on costly diesel generation but has set a target of 75 per cent renewable energy by 2025, with a helping hand from a $11.6 million hybrid renewable energy project part funded by ARENA ($4.5 million). The project consists of 450 kW of solar PV, 550 kW of wind and 400 kW /400 kWh of battery storage.

Diesel power was ubiquitous on King Island in the Bass Strait until wind power was developed – slashing annual diesel consumption from 4.5 to 2.6 million litres. ARENA provided $6 million of the total cost of $18 million of the KIREIP - King island renewable energy integration project - which aims to provide 65 per cent renewables. Notable is the installation of the (then) largest battery based energy storage system in Australia, Ecoult’s 3 MW / 1.6 MWh Ultrabattery using advanced lead acid technology.

ARENA channeled $3.5 million to CSIRO to develop a proofof-concept 750 kWh solar thermal energy storage facility.

Connected to a solar concentrator the facility generated high pressure superheated steam but the study concluded similar projects would have to be in excess of 100 MWe (250 MWt) to be viable.

Researchers estimated projects of this scale and in areas with high solar resources could achieve a levelised cost of electricity at $175 MWh and heat production at $14 GJ.

Storage tipping point The AEMO has modelled scenarios in a bid to grasp the likely impact of distributed energy. In its Emerging Technologies paper AEMO lists the factors driving the uptake of storage as: • High retail electricity prices (noting hikes of 70% in real terms from 2007 to 2013) • Declining solar feed-in tariffs, which reduce the export value of excess solar generation • Decline in battery storage costs (hastened by market maturity) • Excellent solar resources • Availability of innovative electricity tariff structures, and • A desire by some households to be more independent from the grid.

Energy Storage Council CEO John Grimes is a bit more specific; he pinpoints the tipping point for storage as early 2017. Then 130,000 homeowners with PV in NSW will see the “generous” feed in tariffs slashed from 60 or 44 cents per kWh to as little as 4 cents for some. At which stage – hit by the injustice of price disparities – many will rethink the potential of their PV systems.

Describing storage “the missing link”, John points out that energy companies fail to recognise that “consumers are and should be at the centre of the energy market … [and] what they want is a sense of control.”

Octillion

Utilities getting in on storage Snowy Hydro’s Red Energy is trialling a Panasonic battery.

AGL is offering homeowners with PV a 6 kWh lithium-ion system.

Origin and SunEdison have joined forces with the CEFC to increase the accessibility of rooftop solar for businesses and householders through programs based on Power Purchase Agreements.

Ergon is partnering SunPower in a hybrid trial: PV solar power systems with energy storage technology supplied by Sunverge Energy. The limited release commercial offer will be up and running in 33 Queensland homes by year’s end and touted as a first in terms of residential solar and storage managed to secure $400,000 in ARENA funds. Sunverge Solar Integration Systems will provide backup power capability through a 6 kW inverter with 11.6 kWh of energy, on-board computing and cellular communications.

residential and off-grid market in Australia – says the batteries will rival Tesla’s in costs. Octillion’s parent company is Californian based battery storage start-up SinoEV which through its Chinese manufacturing base supplies batteries to an electric vehicle maker.

Storage study ARENA commissioned AECOM to analyse the energy storage industry as a means of helping the agency to determine appropriate investment priorities and support the development of new markets for enabling technologies.

Energy storage is recognised as becoming more important as Australia moves towards higher penetrations of intermittent renewable generation (solar and wind power), and battery technologies as we know offer unique advantages as they can easily be scaled to suit many applications and have high cycle efficiency. The potential for significant cost reduction of some battery technologies provides real opportunity for significant deployment in multiple applications. The report also found that technical barriers regarding uncertainty of performance, reliability and safety could be addressed by demonstration projects to the benefit of all energy storage markets and applications. Government support has been a key driver for energy storage demonstration projects all over the world, providing a productive foundation of operational knowledge, data and industry participation.

World Class LiFePO4 Batteries for Storage Applications

from Heter Electronics Group

Features High Energy Density

Excellent Safety Performance

Long Cycle Life

Light Weight, Small Volume

High Temperature Resistance

Environment Friendly

High Rate Discharge

No Memory Effect

sola r

50Ah

60Ah

Sole Agents: Australia & New Zealand

LiFePO4 51.2V 50Ah

ode backup rn

Battery Ah

LiFePO4 48V

system ups

Certification

UPS/Solar/WInd Power Battery Pack Model

able / fibe r, c

tem ys

ind power s /w

ecom towe tel

Brisbane based Octillion Power Systems has secured $6.3 million in ARENA funding to help develop its expansion into Australia and the development of its advanced lithium-ion battery storage technology.

Octillion’s Steven McCrae – who will be targeting Australia’s

60Ah

ISO9001

TS16949

UL

TUV

IEC62133

CB

CE

CCS

RoHS

MSDS

Products Liability Insurance covering all over the world

Crystal Solar Energy Pty Ltd E n a b l i n g c i t i ze n p owe re d e n e rg y m a r ke t

Ph: (03) 9548 9155

Email: sales@crystalsolarenergy.com.au www.crystalsolarenergy.com.au Solar Progress | 29

SELECTRONIC: showcasing Australian expertise Australian manufacturer Selectronic is a long-standing family business that has led technological advances to manufacture sophisticated products – including the flagship SP PRO inverter charger – that are in demand across Australia and exported to four continents.

BACK IN 1981 clean green energy was just a blip on the radar, but it marked the year that Melbourne based Selectronic Australia - which back then was a major supplier of transformers and inductors for the local electronics industry - took note of a subtle shift and geared up for the emerging renewables market.

Having joined his father in the business in the late ‘70s, it was electronics engineer Ken Scott who steered ground-breaking developments, first the 12 volt inverter 360 watt DC to AC square wave inverter followed in the mid ‘90s, in a world first, true sine wave inverter which “revolutionised” the power quality of off-grid energy systems.

Designed for harsh, remote regions the robust inverter chargers are the “brains” behind many iconic installations, among them parabolic dish collectors in outback Australia, Bushlight’s indigenous communities, Knox Leisureworks and Bega library.

“In the early days we tried to understand what the market wanted and we initially focused specifically on designing and manufacturing inverters for the off-grid solar market,” said Ken whose brother Rod brought his IT expertise to the company in 2004. The market was still fledgling but moving forward, and the Scotts were ready for the next wave.

“At the time we had reasonable yet ageing products on the market so the question we asked ourselves was do we develop a battery inverter or take it a few steps further to a hybrid grid inverter. We identified the need, an opportunity, for new products in the form of an interface so we developed and field-tested the on-grid inverter charger.

“Our experience in off-grid fast tracked our on-grid applications and our flagship product the SP PRO was ready for release in 2008,” Ken said.

Selectronic on show at InterSolar Munich which Rod Scott describes as “A great litmus test of the industry … just five years ago people knew little about hybrid solar PV systems and inverter chargers. Today we are questioned on finer aspects of operating performance and our inverters are in demand across the world.”

30 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

“People like the idea of being able to disconnect from the grid one day and install a hybrid system as it still allows them to use the grid but they can check and manage the different tariffs and price movements, export to the grid and cope with unreliable power supplies. We now await the next wave of storage developments … things will really take off and when that time comes it will bring many new opportunities.”

SP PRO The SP PRO series of inverter chargers are compatible with any battery technology and manage the transition between renewable, grid, generator and battery back-up power. Tech specs are listed as: a bidirectional low distortion sine wave inverter capable of interacting with many AC sources – utility grid, diesel or diesel generators or SWER grids.

“Flexibility and adaptability are key to its success, the SP PRO is configurable and can factor in the big shift to tariff optimisation,” Rod said. “And although we are battery agnostic – we have used various gel Continues over page

Century Yuasa Century Yuasa Batteries, or CYB as it is known, presents some comments on battery and storage systems.

As the Bulk Energy Storage System (BESS) era progresses into discussions

when called upon. Operation of high energy BESS often requires the SOC

about applications rather just about technology, it is becoming clear that

standby state to be 100 per cent, allowing for maximum delivery of energy

there are two primary application types being required by end users;

to the load when required.

the so-called High Power BESS and High Energy BESS. The difference

Subsequent recovery after discharge is usually back to 100 per cent

between these two is significant, and each places considerably different

SOC, however, in many such applications, this is not possible due to lack

demands on the core energy storage components in the system.

of availability of the continuous energy supply required to achieve this. As

High Power BESS applications include Spinning Reserve, Voltage Control,

such the energy storage medium must be tolerant of operating at partial

Frequency Stability/Correction, VAR Compensation, Power Smoothing,

states of charge, with frequent discharge/recharge cycles to less than 100

and Power Factor Correction. These are primarily short term operations,

per cent SOC.

demanding high power outputs for short periods, and fast recovery, meaning high power inputs in short periods for fast recharge.

“Short Term” is generally thought of in seconds and minutes, usually

Although traditional lead acid batteries provide the large capacities required by High Energy BESS applications, they do not provide the very high cycle life and thus very high total energy throughput demanded by

limited to less than one hour for most applications. High Power BESS

such applications. Advanced VRLA batteries contain nano-carbon particles

applications require an energy storage medium capable of delivering high

in the plates to give more efficient charging, low risk of sulphation

currents and being recharged with equally high currents, and the storage

(allowing continuous operation at less than 100 per cent SOC), and higher

medium must also be able to operate continuously at less than 100 per

capacity retention during the battery life.

cent State of Charge (SOC), typically having a standby state of 70 per cent.

This allows for sudden demand to absorb energy as well as to deliver.

These applications tend to be more prevalent at grid level for Utilities and Energy Providers.

High Energy BESS applications include Peak Lopping/Limiting, Energy Shifting/Arbitrage, Islanding, and longer term Power Smoothing and Power Factor Correction. These are primarily long-term (>1hr) operations, and unlike high power applications, demand an energy storage medium capable of delivering very large amounts of energy for long periods (e.g. batteries with high Ampere Hours capacities).

However, like high power applications, it is advantageous if the energy storage medium can be recovered quickly, so it is ready to deliver again Continued from page 30 batteries for on an off grid – we have during the past two years worked closely with Ecoult which makes the advanced lead acid Australian designed UltraBattery; its UltraFlex range which provides all the benefits of lithium-ion without threat of thermal runaway and is 100 per cent recyclable.

Independent power “When all systems are connected to an SP PRO users can shift the time of energy consumption and decide when to use energy and manage peak demand which goes back to the system’s roots as a back-up power supply during storms and power outages,” Rod explained.

“People like the idea of being able to disconnect from the grid one day and install a hybrid system as it still allows them to use the grid but they can check and manage the different tariffs and price movements, export to the grid, cope with unreliable power supplies and possibly avoid large capital expenditure that may be required in the future. Consumers are therefore less vulnerable and instead effectively in control of their energy use and costs.”

Selectronic is today the world’s third largest inverter charger manufacturer. Up to 40 per cent of the Australian made company products are exported, primarily to Europe as well as the emerging markets of India, South Africa, Bangladesh, New Zealand, Indonesia;

32 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

AVRLA batteries are designed for use in large energy storage and remote renewable power applications where frequent charge/discharge cycles are encountered. The technology allows in excess of 5000 deep discharge cycles, delivering in excess of 7 MWh of total throughput from a single 2V cell. Because of this very high total throughput, it is possible to assemble large energy storage systems with just a few parallel strings, making management of string current imbalances very easy, extending the life of the BESS even further, and dramatically reducing the system footprint. High Energy BESS applications demanding very large total energy throughputs can now be delivered by GS Yuasa’s Advanced VRLA SLR-1000 batteries. www.intelepower.com.au also Fiji and the Pacific, where diesel micro grids are being upgraded or replaced with sophisticated solar energy and storage systems.

German company KACO liked the SP PRO inverter charger so much they bought the license to rebadge it as Powador and sell it in Europe, but down the track had to be politely asked to refrain from branding it ‘made in Germany’. That was a matter of some pride for the Scotts who are impressed by today’s level of technical understanding as demonstrated by delegates visiting their exhibition stand at InterSolar Munich.

“Fifteen years ago we had to explain what exactly it was we were making and selling – now it’s all flipped and it’s about what special features can be supplied; specifications and finer aspects of performance delivery … everyone knows about solar and people are quite savvy as to what they can do with solar panels,” Ken said.

Selectronic Australia can lay claim to being one of the world’s largest inverter charger makers. Most of the 30 staff are drawn to the renewables market and have clocked up years of service, some as long as 20 years.

In 2014 Selectronic celebrated a milestone five decades in business but is 2015 just the start of something bigger and better, the tip of the iceberg? Rod Scott keenly awaits the “next wave of storage … [as] things will really take off and when that time comes it will open up many new opportunities.” www.selectronic.com.au

STORAGE today and tomorrow Solar Progress invited Stace Tzamtzidis of Schneider Electric to share his views on the storage market and emerging opportunities.

CURRENT SITUATION: The residential and commercial markets are well and truly working through a consolidation phase, and we have seen a number of high profile exits, mergers or acquisitions. Companies are reinventing themselves and offering additional value and services such as energy audits, financing and power purchase agreements to drive sales. Utility companies are entering the space more aggressively and are targeting specific applications such as residential power backup, this is happening as they are fast tracking connection guidelines and regulations for battery storage systems.

WHAT’S DRIVING DEMAND? Household demand for battery storage will be driven by the escalating cost of energy, the introduction of time of day metering and the loss of feed-in tariffs as these schemes come to and end the next few years. In spite of any government incentives to install battery storage, the financial viability for battery storage to stand on its own will become self evident in the future and will be the catalyst for change.

Similarly, battery storage could be used to offset energy costs for commercial and industrial applications. The target application here is the reduction of peak and kVAR (kilo-volt amp reduction) charges. A battery storage system could be used to store energy and release it during peak demand periods, thus reducing the peak charges for the enterprise.

Other fringe and specialist application such as pure battery backup, UPS type applications, powering remote telemetry and telecommunications equipment, off grid or fringe of grid applications, solar pumps for irrigation systems, diesel reduction and grid stabilisation will see growth at the same time.

“Australia is viewed as a leader in solar, and with almost 1.4 million households with solar the time will come when some will want to convert to battery storage … Battery storage in 2015 is what solar PV was in 2010, a docile sleeping giant.”

34 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

TECHNOLOGY IS DRIVING DOWN COSTS: The recent rise of mobile devices and promises of electrical vehicles have boosted technological developments in the field of electricity storage. New battery, supercapacitors, and flywheel technologies are popping-up on the market more frequently, and offering new and exciting perspectives for electricity storage integration into grids.

New battery technologies like lithium-ion, sodiumsulphur, and flow batteries, are today the most advanced and can already be used to build large scale energy

Stace Tzamtzidis who is Director of Business Development for Schneider Electric says the financial viability of battery storage will be the catalyst for change. storage systems associated with intermittent renewable energy sources, or connected at different grid nodes.

A NEW OPPORTUNITY – AND A WARNING: Although most think they can seamlessly migrate from installing Solar PV to installing battery storage systems on the back of their solar accreditation, they are mistaken. New and specialised skills are required to design, install and commission battery storage system. It is imperative that the regulators develop the regulations and policies in relation to training, accreditation as well as standards for installation. The large amounts of energy associated with battery storage systems have the potential to injury or cause death.

PRICE VS QUALITY: True and tested products should be used for battery storage projects. There are three main and critical components: the inverter charger, the batteries and the electrical balance of systems.

In this market, price reflects quality and reliability and is an indicator of the warranty and technical support that can be expected from the manufacturer or importer.

WHERE NEXT? Australia is viewed as a leader in solar, and with almost 1.4 million households with solar the time will come when some will want to convert to battery storage, at the same time a growing number of new solar installations will feature battery storage from the start. Battery storage in 2015 is what solar PV was in 2010, a docile sleeping giant. Do we have the discipline to manage ourselves? Time will tell.

Clean power... dependable as the sun.

Hybrid Conext™ SW Inverter/Charger

Delivering value to installers and system owners globally The hybrid solution for residential backup power, off-grid solar and self consumption for homes and small business. The Conext SW is a powerful solution, that is simple to install, program and use.

• Excellent load start capabilities with high 30-minute and 5-second surge power • Supports AC coupled and DC coupled off-grid and grid-tie architectures • Compatible with Flooded, Gel, AGM and Li-ion batteries • Now available in 24V DC and 48V DC models Sign up for our free webinar sessions to learn more and see how the Conext SW will help with your next solar project.

solar.schneider-electric.com/conext-sw-learn-more © 2015 Schneider Electric. All Rights Reserved. SEAU144668

FLOW batteries Redflow presents some of the finer aspects of different battery technologies.

Batteries for energy storage widely vary in technology, chemistry and size. Importantly, each technology is best suited to different applications. But what are the applications and advantages of conventional batteries (lead acid and lithium) in comparison to flow batteries (zinc-bromide and vanadium)? How do these technologies compare in terms of reliability, safety, energy density, life and environmental impact?

Common chemistries of flow batteries include vanadium and zinc-bromide. To date, installations of flow batteries have been relatively large in terms of both physical size and storage capacity. However, Redflow has successfully designed and commercialised a small, modular zinc-bromide flow battery with a capacity of up to 11 kWh and a footprint of just 0.34m2, which can also be containerised in multiple strings to form large scale storage systems.

Vanadium flow batteries, in comparison, have a lower Redflow’s Large Scale Battery (LSB), up to 660 kWh of energy storage in a standard 20ft energy density, meaning similarly rated systems have shipping container. much larger physical sizes. This may create additional issues for floor loading, logistics and installation.

While the operation and composition of flow batteries add complexities Lead-acid batteries are a well-known technology that operates soundly compared to conventional battery technologies, this also brings with it a and is cost-effective in applications requiring infrequent use and low host of benefits including ease of recycling, refurbishment of parts and depths of discharge. However, the negative effects of temperature immediate shutdown if required. Additionally, as the tank and the stack are and deep discharge on battery life are a major limiting factor in many physically separated there is no thermal runaway. applications. Lead acid batteries also contain toxic materials which have a www.redflow.com negative environmental impact.

Lithium-ion was first used in small electronic devices, such as mobile Conventional vs. flow batteries phones and the transportation industry in electric cars. More recently, Conventional Batteries Flow Batteries the technology has been adopted in other industries where lead-acid has traditionally been used, as lithium-ion has a low self-discharge, high Best-suited Applications Power-focused Energy-focused efficiency, and high energy density. Lithium-ion technology is quickly Storage Duration 0.5-2 hours 2-20 hours advancing, but speculative concerns of global shortages and thermal runaway issues with some chemistry variants have been roadblocks to Depth of Discharge Up to 40-80% depending on 100% technology wider-scale adoption.

When comparing these more conventional technologies with flow Effects of Deep Discharge If no power source is available Batteries can be kept at low batteries, several key differences can be highlighted. For example, to recharge deeply discharged or zero state of charge for batteries, battery life is long periods of time without Redflow’s Zinc Bromide Module (ZBM) has a 100 per cent depth of degradation significantly affected discharge capacity and tolerates very high ambient temperatures without Temperature Effects Require room temperature Can withstand large range in the need for active cooling, which preserves the health of the battery. for optimal battery health, ambient temperature without This is unlike conventional technologies that require active cooling which meaning regular replacements active cooling has a direct impact on installation costs and space, and have ongoing or higher OPEX costs for active cooling operational costs. Additionally, Redflow’s ZBM has minimal safety concerns as its electrolyte is a fire-retardant, water-based solution. The battery is Material Composition Toxic/rare/expensive raw Recyclable and easily-sourced materials depending on materials used made from recyclable materials, commonly sourced plastic (high density technology polyethylene) and abundantly available resources (zinc and bromide).

Opinions expressed on this page are not necessarily those of the Energy Storage Council

36 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

Build the ideal remote scenario with Redflow energy storage.

*Batteries outdoors require a cover not pictured here.

Remote Energy Storage that Manages Itself... Time to Head to the Man Cave.

Redflow has successfully designed and commercialised a small, modular zinc-bromide flow battery (ZBM) with a capacity of up to 11kWh and a footprint of just 0.34m2. This flow battery can also be containerised in multiple strings to form large scale storage systems.

9 9 9 9

DC solutions with built-in battery management systems compatible with common AC power electronics Tolerates very high ambient temperatures without the need for active cooling 100% depth of discharge and multi-hour energy storage, discharge up to 15 hours Environmentally friendly and made from recyclable materials

For sales enquiries call (07) 3376 0008 or email sales@redflow.com

PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED BY

Solar thermal

Solar heat worldwide Ken Guthrie and James Hudson present a global overview of solar thermal heating.

Figure 1. Total Capacity and Energy Supplied for new renewable technologies

Figure 2. Global Capacity in Operation and growth rates 2011 – 2014

SOLAR THERMAL HEATING is the quiet achiever of renewable energy.

Despite the prevalence of information and visibility of photovoltaic solar power, the worldwide share of capacity and energy provided by PV pales in comparison to Solar Thermal heat. According to Solar Heat Worldwide in the 2014 calendar year there was more than double the total capacity of Solar Thermal in operation worldwide than its PV counterpart (Figure 1). Solar heating fills a different niche in the market to its renewable electric power sources, however its contributions to greenhouse gas reductions and an overall greener power landscape should not be underestimated.

One disturbing note from the latest version of Solar Heat Worldwide1

Figure 3. Market Growth 2012/2013

is that while new renewable technologies such as solar heat, PV and wind have been growing markets in recent years, the growth rates have all declined since 2011 (Figure 2). This trend has largely been led by a drop-off in countries and regions that would be expected to lead the renewables charge such as Australia, Europe and North America. The drop-off of investment in these countries can be attributed largely to the withdrawal of government support and subsequent reductions or removals of subsidies that had helped drive the industry. Conversely the biggest growth areas, in addition to China have been developing regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America (Figure 4).

Energy Solutions Although it may seem counterintuitive that these areas are coming to the

Figure 4. Total capacity of heating collectors in kWth per 1000 inhabitants

forefront of renewables, they are often much better suited to progress

“Solar heating fills a different niche in the market to its renewable electric power sources … and [as] an overall greener power landscape should not be underestimated.”

and innovation. The pressing need for energy solutions combined with no reliable status quo means that all alternatives deserve consideration.

In certain situations where access to traditional fuel sources for heat and electricity (i.e. fossil fuel) are limited or unreliable, autonomous systems such as solar hot water are often chosen because they provide a practical and efficient solution as much as an environmentally friendly one.

In terms of success and progress China stands out by far as the most forward in its implementation of Solar Thermal Heat. China’s market share

38 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

of Solar Thermal Heating has been rapidly expanding and in 2013 China

international collaborative research program that covers solar heating and

accounted for 80.9 per cent2 of all newly installed capacity worldwide. The

cooling technologies and a range of capacity building activities relevant to

scale of implementation is so vast that even on a capacity per capita basis

all solar technologies.

China, the most populous country in the world, ranks 8th in the world (Figure 4). Despite this massive presence China has not largely entered into the world market, as most of its products are made and sold domestically.

Policy implementation has also been proven as an effective method of

Ken Guthrie is the Director of Sustainable Energy Transformation, a Melbourne based consultancy. He represents the APVI on the Executive committee that oversees the work of IEA SHC and since 2014 has been

increasing use of renewables including Solar Thermal. The world leader

the Chairman of that committee. Ken is also the Chairman of the ISO

in Solar Thermal capacity per capita is Austria which, far from having any

Solar Energy Committee and the Australian Standards Committee that

need for alternatives to traditional power and despite not having a ‘good’

covers solar heating and cooling technologies.

solar climate, has progressed through consistently positive and progressive policy over the past 30 years. Israel is another example, punching well

References

above its weight in its Solar Thermal capacity through regulation requiring

1Mauthner,

solar heating systems on new buildings since the late 1970s.

Contributions to the Energy Supply 2013” International Energy Agency Solar

Solar Heat Worldwide is produced by the International Energy Agency Solar Heating and Cooling programme (IEA SHC). The IEA SHC is an

Weiss and Spork-Dur “Solar Heat Worldwide - Markets and

Heating and Cooling Program June 2015 www.iea-shc.org 2Solar

Heat Worldwide, P. 18

Solar Council CHAPTER MEETINGS Sydney Central Chapter

Melbourne Central Chapter

Solar industry stalwart Noel Barton continues to convene information evenings on the fourth Tuesday of each month which attract between 25 and 45 attendees. The group meets at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology.

This year’s program has featured guest speakers Nigel Morris; Scott Addison of Parker Hannifin, Anna Cain of Infigen Energy, Renate Egan of APVI, Oscar McLaren of Sydney Renewable Power Company, Mary Hendriks, and Allan Aaron of AusIndustry.

At a recent meeting Glen Morris of SolarQuip addressed ‘Energy Storage: The future is now’, and Anthony Froelich, Sales Manager for Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure, ABB Australia spoke about ‘The Future of Electric Vehicle Charging in Australia’. Previous speakers have included Russell French of the City of Melbourne and Paul Scerri of RFI.

Upcoming sessions: September: Speaker and topic details will soon be circulated.

October: AGM with Steve Blume who is President of the Solar Council; and an excursion to the Infigen Open Day at the Woodlawn Wind Farm and Infigen 100 KW PV installation November: James Fisher of Vast Solar.

Guest presenters at a recent meeting of the Melbourne Chapter at the Town Hall.

Spirit of Solar Goodwill Its Time founder and philanthropist Rob Edwards is tireless in his

big impact, more than a dozen schools in the area are now powered by

efforts to roll out solar installations at schools in Fiji in the bid to

solar energy.

replace old polluting technologies and raise education standards and quality of life for hundreds of islanders.

By November this year six more schools in Fiji will be fitted with PV as part of the strategy to install solar in all 300 remote Fijian schools over

“The aim is to completely change the education prospects for a generation of kids and reduce a heap of carbon dioxide along the way,” Rob told Solar Progress.

To help spread the word he’s getting the message out to businesses

the next few of years. It’s an ambitious plan but Australian motivational

about the new CSR strategy via http://iitime.org/csr/

speaker Rob Edwards is relentless in his efforts and has already made a

http://www.iitime.org/home.html

Solar Progress | 39

Business marketing

Commercial SUCCESS Well known ‘data geek’ Warwick Johnston of SunWiz presents some business tips to help drive success in commercial PV sales. #1 Trend for PV in 2015 MORE AND MORE PV COMPANIES are turning to commercial PV sales. Faced with ever-increasing competition for a dwindling residential market, smart businesses have attempted to transition their business model towards selling commercial PV, which now makes up more than 20 per cent of the market and is particularly prevalent in NSW and SA. Unfortunately, most solar businesses have discovered the hard way that the commercial sales process is nothing like the transactional-style residential sales process. Because tens of thousands of dollars are at stake the commercial customer ‘gestation’ process is much longer: multiple decision makers each need to be educated about solar and then convinced you’re the right business to trade with. The commercial sales process can make or break a company – get it wrong and you can easily have nothing to show for a $100,000 investment.

But some solar companies are highly successful in commercial – Todae Solar and Solgen are examples of businesses whose success is almost exclusively off the back of commercial PV. What are they doing right that other’s aren’t?

SunWiz has performed extensive research into successfully selling commercial PV. We’ve conducted extensive interviews with the brightest minds in commercial PV sales. We’ve identified which industry segments are buying PV, and what is constitutes best-practice when it comes to websites, proposals and customer acquisition.

Our consulting has convinced us that there are some general principles to a successful commercial sales process, and some ‘must-have’s. But every company is different and requires a strategic approach that reflects their

Commercial proportion of market unique set of circumstances. Dozens of businesses have benefitted from SunWiz’s commercial market tele-consultancy, in which they learn how to use their unique strengths and opportunities to successfully tackle the commercial market.

The key to creating high-profit commercial sales lies in targeting the best commercial market segments, reaching the customers first, establishing your compelling value proposition, and obliterating the competition. It requires a totally different approach to residential sales, but the pay-off is success in a growth market that still offers healthy profits.

For more detailed insights and forecasts: Warwick Johnston 0413 361 534, warwick@sunwiz.com.au, www.sunwiz.com.au

DON’T

DO

8 Simply hire a commercial sales manager who will swallow $50k before

4 Take a strategic approach to organic growth, and outsource until you can

8 Take a scatter-gun approach to commercial marketing, which can burn

4 B ecome the go-to solar company in the best locations and in a few

8 Use Google Adwords, which is expensive unless you have a dedicated

4 U se digital tools like remarketing and lookalike audiences

8 Overlook your existing customer base, who should be happy to refer you

4 A sk every new residential sale whether they want solar on their business

8 Offer to save money on electricity… everyone is now wary of that

4 O ffer a fantastic return-on-investment and a proposal that also hits the

8 Calculate ROI on the back of an envelope, or by using a simple

4 C alculate an ROI that accounts for the customer’s individual hourly

8 Waste time on tyre-kickers and companies that need a two-year payback

4 H ave a tyre-kicker quick-response kit so you can spend more time with

8 Re-hash your residential sales proposal, you’re trying to convince

4 P ut together a company brochure dedicated to demonstrating your

8 Have an out-dated website, which will turn-off the company boss even if

4 H ave a dedicated commercial webpage with lengthy case studies,

making a sale (most commercial sales take six months to close). money fast

digital sales process to their employers approach.

spreadsheet. Selling commercial PV is all about building trust, and few people understand spreadsheets, let alone trust another person’s impenetrable calculations.

someone to spend over $20k with you

you’re mates with the second in-charge

40 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

afford to employ chosen sectors

emotional trigger-points for purchasing

consumption profile, roof orientation, tariff timing, and conservative peak demand reduction.

genuine customers.

commercial prowess, and images and testimonials

SPREADING Solar’s good word Solar and Energy Storage Council CEO John Grimes has maintained a busy schedule talking to media, meeting political leaders, and generally promoting the cause for solar energy and storage. Following is a summary of activities: Meetings with politicians, ARENA, CER and AEMO Federal Government: Meetings with Shadow Minister for Resources Gary Gray; Greens Leader Richard di Natale, Senator Scott Ludlum and Adam Bandt.

State: Meetings with the governments of South Australia, ACT and Victoria; tentative discussions with the Queensland government and representations to the NSW government.

Highlights • A ddressing the Renewables Rally staged in late July during the ALP Conference in Melbourne.

• During the ALP Conference Fringe event attended

by State Premiers or their Energy Ministers, Labor leader Bill Shorten stepped in to announce the ALP was adopting the Solar Council’s policy of at least 50 per cent renewables by 2030. For this Shorten received a standing ovation.

John Grimes with Keith Hunter, SA Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation

SA Premier Jay Weatherilll; Shadow Environment Minister Mark Butler, Labor Leader Bill Shorten.

Addressing a crowd of hundreds at the Renewables Rally in Melbourne

Industry events At Parliament House ARENA showcased some of the ground breaking projects funded by the agency; this was an exhibition that attracted enormous interest and attendance and enabled the Solar Council to better understand ARENA priorities for solar technology and more specifically on how we can boost the uptake and usage of energy storage. In ARENA on show at Parliament House. particular that connected with Above: Ricky Muir and Greg Bourne renewable energy and solar energy.

During the meeting with AEMO discussions centred on supporting energy storage and solar and the Operator appears very supportive and positive on both accounts.

Strong voice for solar in the media A great deal of radio and TV interviews and printed and digital news coverage on solar and energy storage … in the two weeks alone to mid August featuring in more than 360 local and international media sources including China, Germany, the UK and the US.

Solar Progress | 41

Events

Solar on Show ALL-ENERGY 2015

SOLAR + STORAGE SUMMIT

Wednesday October 7 to Thursday October 8 2015 Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre www.all-energy.com.au

Wednesday November 18 and Thursday November 19, San Diego, California Infocast’s Solar + Storage Summit brings together solar developers with battery vendors and storage systems integrators to examine the emerging opportunities, economics and technologies involved in combining storage with grid-connected, commercial & industrial and consumer solar PV systems.

PV TAIWAN 2015 Wednesday October 14 to Friday October 16 Taipei Nangang Exhibition Centre, Taipei, Taiwan The show is open to the public, and overseas attendees can pre-register online for free entry. For more information contact Taiwan Trade Centre, Sydney on 02 9231 5959 www.pvtaiwan.com or www.greentaiwan.tw

INTERSOLAR INDIA Wednesday November 18 to Friday November 20, Mumbai, India Featuring PV production technologies, energy storage systems and solar thermal technologies. www. intersolar.in

ASIA-PACIFIC SOLAR RESEARCH CONFERENCE Tuesday December 8 to Thursday December 10 Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre A unique opportunity to combine the annual research reviews of Australia’s key solar research groups. Conference streams: Solar Energy Deployment; Applied PV; Advanced PV, Solar Heating and Cooling and Low Carbon Living; also CST. apvi.org.au/solar-research-conference/

Print Green Solar Progress is printed on paper that is made with elemental chlorine free pulp by Printgraphics Printgreen, an environmentally friendly printing company that meets International Standard Organization for Environmental Management Standards ISO 14001 with further certification in FSC, PEFC and Sustainable Green Print. Printgraphics Certifications in Quality Management System ISO 9001 and Colour Management ISO 12647-2 ensures its clients that best practices are followed in both quality and environment.

Printgraphics has significantly reduced its Volatile Organic Compounds emission from chemicals and uses vegetable based inks. Waste reduction through manufacturing has been completely reduced to normal household waste due to the intense recycling program in place. This includes all waste such as paper, ink, packaging, plates, rags etc as well as employee waste by recycling food scrap too.

Capacitors have been fitted to its electricity supply which filter out

water tank and further reductions due to an environmentally friendly CTP process which has reduced water usage from 11 litres per plate to 200 ml per plate – making an annual saving of well over 200,000 litres.

Printgraphics staff and clients have helped improve forest bio-diversity over the years by helping to plant thousands of native trees and plants on private land in Victoria. This ongoing replanting program has created corridors for wildlife migration between state and national parks. As well as helping Australian wildlife for future generations, the tree planting program helps in reducing carbon emissions and improve the quality of the land.

Printgraphics is now looking to further offset its carbon emissions through programs which will enable its clients to officially print their publications carbon neutral.

unused waveband in the supply to store for peak power draw, thereby

Plastic Wrap

reducing drag on the grid. Electricity supply for lighting and computers

The magazine is posted out in Biowrap, a “degradable” plastic film that is designed to start breaking down about 18 months after production.

Timing is determined by the amount of additive used in the plastic.

has also been reduced by changing to led lighting and laptops where possible. Water consumption has also been reduced with the use of a

Our thanks to you We sent out a call for a hero shot for the front cover of this magazine and happily received many photos, all high quality and all very impressive. That made it rather hard to choose the best image but we finally decided on a shot that captured the essence of ‘hero’. For those who missed out this time, look out for future issues of Solar Progress …

Again, our thanks to all of you who responded and so quickly.

Here are two images that really caught our attention but may not quite make it onto the front cover …

42 | ISSUE 3 • 2015

Solar Council events

Technical Training and Updates Solar Council workshops and technical training sessions AS/NZS 4777.2 PREVIEW WORKSHOPS AS/NZS 4777.2 Grid Connection of Energy Systems via Inverters has been updated and comes into effect in October 2015.

Bring your compliance knowledge up to date! The Solar Council is running Compliance Workshops during September that present a powerpack of solutions to surge your business forward.

MELBOURNE: Wednesday September 16, 8:30am – 2.30pm, Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, Champion Room, 1 Aughtie Drive, Albert Park SYDNEY: Thursday September 17, 8:30am - 2:30pm, Ausgrid Learning Centre, 48 - 50 Holker St, Silverwater, Sydney GOLD COAST: Friday September 18, 8:30am - 2:30pm, Princeton Room Building 6 Level 3, Bond University, 14 University Drive, Gold Coast

PRACTICAL SOLAR HYBRID & OFF-GRID TRAINING – four-day course This course will deliver a detailed understanding of how to size, configure, program and design both on-grid “solar hybrid” systems (solar panels plus battery storage) and off-grid stand-alone power systems. No prior knowledge is required though a basic understanding of solar PV systems would be beneficial Moora Moora Cooperative, 109 Moora Rd, Mt Toolebewong (near Healesville) Victoria.

Cost is $2200 per person – 20% discount for Australian Solar Council Members ** Accommodation and all meals provided ** • Tuesday October 27 at 8:30am to Friday October 30, 3:30pm

The workshops are run by Glen Morris, Vice President of the Australian Solar Council and Principal of SolarQuip.

• Tuesday November 10 at 8:30am to Friday November 13 at 3:30pm

Cost: $38.50 per person (includes lunch)

For more information contact Joanna Joustra on 0402 938 401 or

To register visit www.solar.org.au/events/

email Joanna@solar.org.au

• Tuesday December 15 at 8:30am to Friday December 18 at 3:30pm

Wednesday 4 May 2016 at 8:30 am to Thursday 5 May 2016 at 5:00 pm

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre Solar Energy Exhibition & Conference 2016, the 54th annual Australian Solar Council industry conference and exhibition is a showcase of the people, projects and products that are driving solar and storage to new heights of innovation and excellence.

The Energy Storage Council’s second annual conference will be held alongside the Solar Energy Exhibition & Conference. A two day forum for energy storage industry participants to network, share information and build knowledge.

Solar Council Corporate Members For full listing of Solar Council Corporate Members see www.solar.org.au

Diamond Members Greenbank Environmental

Hareon Solar Technology Co, Ltd

Silver Corporate Members Alternergy Power Systems Australia Pty Ltd BYD Europe B.V.

CO2 Markets

DKSH Australia Pty Ltd

R F Industries Pty Ltd

ReneSola

Rheem Australia

DNV.GL Garrad Hansan Pacific Solar Depot Pty Ltd

Gold Corporate Members ABB Pty Ltd

Jim Chisholm Consulting

Solar World WA

Enphase Energy Inc ®

EnviroGroup

Solar Freedom Australia Pty Ltd

Green Energy Trading

Apricus Australia Pty Ltd Power Saving Centre Canberra

Solargain PV Pty Ltd

Suntech

HID Europe Solari Energy Pty Ltd Infinity Solar

ASM Money

Australian Ethical Investments

Go Energy

Risen Energy (Australia) Pty Ltd

Shanghai JA Solar PV Technology Co Ltd

Trina Solar (Australia) Pty Ltd L&H Solar + Solutions

Yingli Green Energy Australia Pty Ltd

SunEdison

LG Electronics Australia Pty Ltd

SunPower Corporation Australia

MaxiSolar Pty Ltd

True Value Solar

Stage a presence in Solar Progress Solar Progress is the flagship publication of the Australian Solar Council.

Delving into cutting-edge developments from the nano-scale to big solar, and industry solar advocacy to commentary and all in between, the magazine is created by and for the solar community. It is your industry magazine.

A snapshot of Solar Progress: • Four issues a year • Circulated to 5000 solar specialists across Australia • Read by up to 18,000 industry devotees Solar Progress is circulated to manufacturers, distributors, installers, designers, project managers, politicians, engineers, consultants, and the increasingly aware consumer. Firmly positioned on the radar of the entire solar community, Solar Progress is the ideal vehicle in which to promote your company service or product.

Branding boost Solar Progress Online – extend the reach of your marketing budget.

Companies signing up now for a full-page advert in Solar Progress will enjoy the benefit of a free online ad in Solar Progress Online, the Solar Council’s news and industry section of www.solar.org.au. Your online ad will make your marketing dollar go further with increased visibility and links directly to your website. With online exposure at 16,000 page views/month, this is an opportunity not to be missed!

To participate, contact Solar Council Business Development Manager, Joanna Joustra on 0402 938 401 or email Joanna@solar.org.au

Joanna Joustra is your contact for advertising in Solar Progress, now syndicated with the Solar Council website. With previous leadership positions within the publishing and events industries Joanna has a proven record of establishing highly effective relationships that support growth initiatives. Joanna lives in a solar powered home in an off grid co-operative.

Solar products services

SOLAR PROGRESS ADVERTISERS’ SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

Jinko’s better quality, lower cost products

Fronius leads with new power density benchmark Austrian solar energy solutions provider, Fronius will launch the latest addition to the SnapINverter range in Australia this month. Available in the 25.0 and 27.0 kVA power categories, the Fronius Eco string inverter delivers maximum yields while optimising medium to large scale PV project costs.

“The Fronius Eco is the ideal project inverter. It is easy to service, extremely cost-effective and offers the high quality associated with Fronius,” explains Martin Hackl, head of the Solar Energy Division at Fronius International GmbH. The Fronius Eco sets an unrivalled benchmark for power density; weighing only 35.7 kg, it can be installed comfortably by two people. And, thanks to the exceptionally high IP 66 protection class, the device can be installed in unsheltered indoor and outdoor locations.

The new MPP tracking algorithm technology, called the Dynamic Peak Manager plays an important role in maximising yield. It automatically checks the PV characteristic curve at regular intervals, ensuring that the inverter finds the global maximum and constantly operates at the point of maximum output, even in partial shading.

Connection area of Fronius Eco showing installation with standard compliant integrated DC isolator and double-pole fusing

Chinese tier one PV manufacturer JinkoSolar is boosting its product quality and technology innovation in several fields.

Its R&D department recently achieved a maximum power of 334.5W for 60-cell poly modules, setting a new record in the PV industry.

Based on material aging test, every single progress is commercialised to strengthen techniques in PID-free and anti-snail track. Jinko also developed new self-cleaning products to increase energy output of modules in harsh arid areas.

The dielectric strength of Smart module, double-glass module and the 1500V module has been greatly improved, with the quantity of modules increased by 50 per cent per string.

Jinko’s Black Silicon solar cells were developed with advanced surface texturing technology and optimised integrated processes leading to greater cell efficiency and module power. PERC (Passivated Emitter Rear Contact) solar cells were developed and a pilot line built to enable upgrade for mass production.

The all black contact IBC (Interdigitated Back Contact) solar cells were developed to boost cell efficiency.

Advanced metallization technologies were developed with new materials that replace totally or partially the conventional Ag pastes used as electrodes.

Polycrystalline silicon cell efficiency was developed through high quality seeds, optimised crucible structure, high efficient hot zone of DSS furnace and optimised silicon ingot casting process. Jinko’s new LID-free p-type polycrystalline silicon wafer, LID-free p-type silicon mono wafer and LID free N type silicon mono wafer fundamentally solved the LID problem.

“As a global leader in the solar PV industry, we have dedicated ourselves to innovating high-efficiency, reliable solar cells and modules,” said Kangping Chen, Chief Executive Officer of JinkoSolar. “Highly cost-effective solar products help reduce the cost of solar power generation which … accelerates the development of the global solar PV industry.”

JinkoSolar and subsidiary JinkoPower recently secured several multimillion dollar loan agreements with banks and other financial institutions, proceeds of which will be used to expand JinkoPower’s project portfolio in China and enables capacity expansion to 1.4 GW.

Unique advantages for commercial projects The Fronius Eco’s efficiency level of 98.3 per cent is unique in the project area. Another highlight is the integrated AS/NZS 5033 compatible DC isolator enabling the installer to connect up to six strings directly to the inverter, meaning that the system operator no longer requires additional DC or combiner boxes adjacent to the inverter. The integrated fuse holder provides all-pole fuse protection for all six strings, and optional overvoltage protection is available for the DC side.

The Fronius Eco is serviceable on-site and comes with integrated WLAN/ LAN communications. This means that a Fronius Service Partner is able to proactively monitor the project, can react to fault codes remotely and with a reserve of spare parts on hand can ensure maximum uptime by getting the PV plant back up and running within one trip to site.

Opinions expressed on this page are not necessarily those of the Australian Solar Council

Solar Progress | 47

Solar Heroes The Solar Council would like to acknowledge these prominent supporters whose generous donations have contributed to the strength of the Save Solar campaign in 2015.

Visit www.savesolar.com.au to find out more and see the feature on page 14.

SPRING Solar Progress Advertisers ADVERTISER ABB

PAGE 19

Apricus

Inside front cover

ASM Money

5

Bosch

7

Century Yuasa Batteries

33

CO2 Markets

Inside back cover

Crystal Solar Energy

29

Enphase

9

Fronius

Outside back cover

Fusion Power Systems

15

Hareon

43

Jinko Solar

45

R and J Batteries

23

Redback Technologies

25

Redflow Batteries

37

Reed Exhibitions (All Energy)

13

ReneSola

11

RFI Solar

21

Schneider Electric

35

Selectronic

31

Yingli

3

Informative source: Practical measures

SAVE MONEY. SAVE SOLAR.

Energy bills are a big part of the household budget and comparing energy plans is difficult, confusing and frustrating. Enter financial comparison site, Mozo.com.au, which has launched an online energy comparison tool to help Australians compare and switch electricity and gas providers.

Users will be able to see online the cheapest available plan for their energy usage and postcode.

Not surprisingly, it took mozo 15 months to get to grips with the complexity of the energy industry and consumer charges before crunching data on 1100 pricing plans from 22 energy providers across 30 regions in five states. mozo.com.au/energy

/ Perfect Welding / Solar Energy / Perfect Charging

A SMARTER ENERGY SUPPLY IS POSSIBLE. NOW THAT THE SNAPINVERTER RANGE IS HERE.

snapinverter.com

Be different. Be profitable. With the Fronius SnapINverter generation we are setting new standards in securing system uptime, optimising the cost of solar energy and providing flexible, future-proof platforms.

Available now: Fronius Galvo - Repower your system (1.5 - 3.1 kW, 1-phase) Fronius Primo - Optimised energy management (3.0 - 8.2 kW, 1-phase) Fronius Symo - Unrivalled 3-phase flexibility (3.0 - 20.0 kW, 3-phase) Fronius Eco - Project optimisation (25.0 - 27.0 kW, 3-phase) Fronius Energy Package (Symo Hybrid & Smart Meter) - Personal storage solution (3.0 - 5.0 kW, 3-phase)