Wednesday, 22 September 2010 15:56
Australia’s state governments are taking up the challenge of turning the country into a haven for solar power. The state of Victoria has committed AUD $100 million to the Mallee Solar Park, a 180-megawatt plant proposed by TRUenergy using technology from Arizona-based First Solar. Meanwhile, the state of Western Australia has committed AUD $20 million for a 10-megawatt photovoltaic solar power plant developed in partnership with BP Solar.

The moves, though small, suggest that the Australian solar market is heating up.
In April, a Siemens executive said there was “a powerful business case” for Australia to lead in solar and even sell its energy to other countries. The government of Victoria has set a goal of generating 5 percent of its electricity from solar by 2020 and is also pushing the construction of a $420 million plant being developed by Silex Systems nearby.

The developers of the proposed Victoria plant have applied for funding from the federal government’s $1.5 billion solar flagships program but the total cost of the plant was not disclosed. The funding announcements are expected early next year. TRUenergy Chief Executive Richard McIndoe said the plant, slated for completion in 2015, would use First Solar’s thin-film cadmium telluride PV technology, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

The Western Australia plant, which will be run by state-owned Verve Energy, would anticipate larger projects in the future, according to state Energy Minister Peter Collier. It carries a total pricetag of AUD $58 million and will be the largest grid-connected solar plant in Australia.

Written by Green energy Reporter

Original source: http://www.bellingencourier.com.au/news/local/news/general/solar-scheme-outofcontrol/1966242.aspx

We have not been paying for our electricity so that is much more of an incentive for householders and industry to consume considerable amounts of electricity

Murdoch University business and development lecturer Peter McMahon warns West Australians will pay dearly through their hip pockets for living in one of the least-sustainable societies in the world.

His report, which examines the energy, transportation,environment, farming and mining sectors, covers WA sustainability from 1829 to 2020.“The energy-intensive WA economy faces huge challenges as carbon-control schemes and peak energy trends will raise energy costs dramatically,” Dr McMahon said.

“Rising living standards in WA have led to the state being the highest energy-user and the worst polluter and waste generator in the country.”

In his report, WA2020, Dr McMahon said the state needed to make significant policy changes in the next decade to avoid dramatic price increases and tackle drought, soil erosion and salinity problems.

Energy Minister Peter Collier said the state’s thirst for energy was because West Australians had been living in a “fool’s paradise” for too long.

“We have not been paying for our electricity so that is much more of an incentive for householders and industry to consume considerable amounts of electricity,” Mr Collier said.

“It has sent all the wrong messages to the community.
“We are moving towards a user-pays system with electricity and that has a two-fold effect.

Number one, it means that the State Government won’t continue to bail out Verve Energy to the tune of billions of dollars and number two, the community are much more aware of the fact that it costs to use electricity so it sends the right message.”

But he said the state was making progress, especially when it came to the switch to renewable energy. By 2012 WA would produce 8.9 per cent of its energy from green sources including wind, solar and wave generators, he said. So far 18,000 households have installed solar panels, which feed energy directly into the grid.The state pays householders 40c a kilowatt hour for excess power.

Environment Minister Donna Faragher did not respond to questions about Dr McMahon’s report. Dr McMahon claimed WA’s isolation, size and diverse landscape was delaying much-needed action. The report urged the Government to make urgent policy changes in areas such as energy, transportation and mining.

Original post: http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/special-features/west-australians-to-pay-for-dirty-living/story-e6frg19l-1225914730176

Unity students and staff, led by environmental author Bill McKibben, are toting one of the solar panels installed on the White House in the late 1970s at the direction of then President Jimmy Carter. The panels were removed by Carter’s successor, Ronald Reagan, in the 1980s, and later used by Unity to heat water in the college cafeteria.

The solar panels were Carter’s way of demonstrating his administration’s commitment to increased use of renewable energy at a time of sudden petroleum shortages and soaring gas prices. Solar power in the 1970s offered the kind of bright promise that wind energy does today.

Carter had the misfortune to be president when the world petroleum market burst out of its comfortable, predictable patterns.

Oil prices, which had remained below $2 a barrel throughout the 1960s, suddenly shot up in 1973 to over $11 as a result of the Arab oil embargo, causing sticker shock at the gas pump and widespread economic distress. The price more than doubled again in 1979 due to temporary disruption in oil supplies during the Iranian Revolution.

In a televised speech in April 1977, Carter painted a stark picture of our country “running out of gas and oil.” To help solve the problem, he proposed resorting to “strict conservation” and “permanent renewable energy sources, like solar power.” Carter also advocated increased use of domestic coal (Scientific understanding of global warming through carbon-dioxide emissions was not yet well developed or appreciated by the general public).

Carter’s initiative was farsighted but fell victim to his lackluster personality, political clumsiness and just plain bad luck. Expensive oil, recession, inflation, the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and the Iranian hostage crisis led to his defeat in a bid for a second term in the 1980 presidential election.

Carter’s departure from office, coupled with lower world petroleum prices over the next two decades, effectively placed alternative energy on the back burner. Solar power, though it has expanded rapidly over the past 10 years, still only satisfies about 1% of U.S. energy needs.

While foreign oil dependence and the risk of sharp hikes in oil prices remain as looming problems, climate change has added new urgency to the call for an accelerated shift away from fossil-based and towards renewable forms of energy, such as wind, tidal, biomass and geothermal.

The Unity group hopes to persuade President Obama to install new solar panels on the executive mansion as a symbol of his commitment to renewable energy.

That should be easier to do than to persuade Congress to complete passage of a stalled bill that would significantly advance alternative-energy production – the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which cleared the House of Representatives on June 2, 2009.

The centerpiece of the bill, “cap-and-trade,” would gradually limit greenhouse gas emissions from utilities, large industrial plants, and petroleum and natural gas producers and importers, ratcheting them down to 80% of 2005 levels by 2050.

Emitters exceeding permissible limits would be given a choice of either cutting back or purchasing credits from other emitters who were below the limit. The system would make carbon dioxide emissions more expensive, thereby increasing the cost of burning fossil fuels and giving comparative advantage to renewable energies which are carbon neutral.

When the bill arrived in the Senate, it bogged down in a morass of overlapping committee hearings, competing proposals, fierce lobbying by the petroleum and coal industries, and uncompromising opposition by senators from oil- and coal-producing states, such as Oklahoma’s James Inhofe and Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu.

Not even intense public backlash against the oil industry due to BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, nor proffered legislative sweeteners for nuclear power, off-shore drilling and coal production, could dislodge it.

Last July, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid gave up trying to achieve passage, at least for the remainder of the year.

Though far more politically adept than Carter, Obama’s luck and timing on this issue may be no better than his hapless predecessor’s.

Obama has already expended most of his “political capital” on ambitious measures to bailout large banks and the domestic auto industry, stimulate the economy, reform health care, and increase regulation of financial institutions. He has little left with which to push his energy and environmental agenda through Congress.

Besides, with unemployment and foreclosure rates stuck at high levels, voters are anxious and angry at every elected official in Washington. The Clean Energy and Security Act would increase electric utility costs in the short run (though nowhere near the levels its opponents claim), and that could spell political trouble for anyone who supported it.

If, as widely predicted, November’s mid-term elections reduce or eliminate Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, the opportunity for passage of an energy/climate bill will become bleaker yet. Republicans are unlikely to sign onto another major Obama reform measure, even a watered-down one.

In the interest of not making a bad situation worse, perhaps the Unity group should ditch its solar panel – a reminder of one of America’s least lucky presidents – and substitute a windmill in its place. If all else fails, at least they can tilt at the windmill.

Source: http://www.sunjournal.com/guest-columns/story/907716

Energy Minister Peter Collier has announced State Budget funding of $23million to introduce a residential net feed-in tariff scheme, providing a subsidy to householders with new and existing photovoltaic, wind and micro-hydro systems.

The scheme will open for applications from July 1, with payments to be made from August 1.

It will be available for residential installations where the system is owned by the home owner, including tenanted properties.

“The net feed-in tariff scheme has been set at 40 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) on electricity exported into both the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) and regional grids,” Mr Collier said.

“This is in addition to the price paid under the existing Renewable Energy Buyback Scheme, which will allow householders to receive a minimum of 47c/kWh.

“This provides a genuine incentive for home owners to install renewable energy systems, which not only has a positive impact on the environment but it will also help householders manage their electricity bills.”

A feasibility study is also being undertaken into the potential for a similar scheme for businesses.

The Minister said the scheme would help system owners recover the cost of installing solar photovoltaic systems, with recipients receiving the net feed-in tariff payments for 10 years.

“The scheme will not require any changes in metering for existing system owners,” he said.

“The State Government recognises the substantial interest within the community to install household renewable energy systems, and the introduction of a feed-in tariff will provide an on-going benefit to households and the solar industry in Western Australia.”

Current system size under retailer buyback schemes, up to 5kW for Synergy customers and up to 10kW per phase for Horizon Power customers, will apply.

Both electricity retailers will administer the net feed-in tariff scheme on the SWIS and regional networks respectively.

Original source:
www.mediastatements.wa.gov.au/Pages/WACabinetMinistersSearch.aspx?ItemId=133582&minister=Collier&admin=Barnett

September 2010

Energy Farm this month made an agreement that will see more efficient high quality panels being imported into Perth in 250watt and 290watt sizes.  Designed in America and manufactured in India, the panels are of very high quality/efficiency and include longer warranties than many panels coming out of China.

Energy Farm sees this as a real step forward for the home owner who now has the option to put less panels on their roof due to these highly efficient modules and they make a great addition to our growing list of panel brands and options.  To top it off, they are a great looking module, the image pictured above is a closeup of a panel that is on one of our staffs roof!

State Energy Minister Peter Collier officially opened Kwinana’s 120-megawatt ‘Swift Power’ station, which is operated by the Ky Cao-led Perth Energy.

he gas-fired power station is said to have quick response capabilities, taking just five minutes to reach full capacity.

“This will assist with increasing Western Australia’s capacity to manage intermittent power on the grid from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar,” Mr Collier said.

“The station will also increase reliability of supply during high demand periods and add significant security during system emergencies through its capacity to quickly switch fuels from gas to diesel.”

The extra power capacity to WA will make it easier on the state’s grid system, particularly during hot days in summer when air conditioners can put pressure on the system.

The opening of the Perth Energy power station also follows the State Government’s cap on Verve Energy’s total capacity at 3000MW.

Perth Energy on its website said Verve is currently producing some 34000MW of power however that will decrease when some of the utility’s oldest plants retire in the next several years.

The plant will also help the grid accommodate more renewable energy generation, helping the government achieves its share of the national target of 20 per cent by 2020.

The Marble Bar-based Horizon Power’s Pippunyah power station was today opened by Mines and Petroleum Minister Norman Moore.

Mr Moore said it was the first time a combination of technology – solar and diesel – was used in the world.

He said it ensured the plant had a very high level of solar energy penetration and a reliable supply of power to the town. Marble Bar, in the east Pilbara, is Australia’s hottest town.

“The station is powered by the biggest tracking solar farm in Australia,” he said.

“The 1350 panels – an award-winning design of SunPower – move on their axis to follow the path of the sun and produce a generating capacity of 1160kW.” Mr Moore said regional WA, particularly the Pilbara, was critical to the rest of the nation and the State Government was proud to support leading-edge technology that was efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly.

Pippunyah Solar Diesel Power Station was only one of many renewable energy projects under development by Horizon Power, including solar-diesel stations in the remote Aboriginal towns of Kalumburu and Yungngore (Noonkanbah).

The Marble Bar station started powering the town in May but its testing program was only finished at the end of July.

The station is named by the community’s Njamal people after the river that runs beneath it.

The same solar-diesel hybrid generation model has been used to develop and build a power station at Nullagine, 88km south of Marble Bar.

This station, powered by 900 single-axis tracking solar panels, is under construction and expected to start supplying the town in October.

Source: http://www.perthnow.com.au/business/news/private-kwinana-power-station-opens/story-e6frg2qu-1225907833659