The Australian Solar Council (ASC) believes the future for solar is huge, especially when it comes to rooftop PV installations. Dr Bill Parker, editor of the ASC magazine Solar Progress, outlines the potential for Australia.
The solar PV market in Australia has seen extraordinary growth in the past 20 years, largely due to market support from state governments. However, that support has diminished and 2013 has seen a 30 per cent contraction in the solar market over 2012 numbers.
In 2012, one gigawatt of solar PV was installed in Australia.
This year we are on track to install 700 MW of solar PV. In other times and in other industries, this would represent a devastating slump for the industry.
But in the solar industry, at this time, a 30 per cent contraction is exceptionally good news.
The solar industry has been supported through a series of artificial feed-in tariffs introduced at state level.
These tariffs fuelled the rapid take up of the technology, and turned distributed solar generation into a mainstream concept. But just as quickly as tariffs appeared, they disappeared.
Despite this, the Australian public continues to flock to solar, pushed by ever increasing electricity prices and solar PV costs that continue to fall. Solar PV has become an important ‘insurance policy’ against the ever–increasing price of electricity.
The industry is currently installing at a rate of 700 MW per annum without tariffs, which is a significant achievement.
It demonstrates an underlying market demand that is only set to grow in the future.
And while we do not expect the meteoric growth of the past three years, we do get to say goodbye to the solar roller coaster of governments changing solar policy on a whim.
Australia has a solar industry that has endured and has emerged leaner, more productive, and more professional than ever before; a very good outcome for Australia indeed.
That is only part of the potential story. Rooftop PV is the metaphorical tip of the iceberg, the visible part of a far bigger industry.
Transformation
If we take the potential of household solar hot water systems and large scale solar thermal plant that can store heat overnight, we have the means to both offset the demand for energy and replace fossil fuel generation.
Our energy world will be transformed in the coming years by a suite of complementing
solar technologies.
It is often said that solar “does not work at night”. Storage is the answer, and we are moving closer to commercial battery applications to suit homes and industry.
Around the world we have seen the construction of large solar plants capable of providing electricity around the clock, but the application of solar energy to storage has wider application.
For example, the concept of pumping water during the day into storage dams and generating electricity in the same way as hydro plants do without the need for rainfall.
Australia has led the way in solar technologies and applications over the past 50 years and some of the most prominent scientists on the world stage are based here.
We continue to educate young scientists and engineers in our universities and the link between those talented young people and the commercial world is the Solar Council.
The ASC had its origins in days when a small group of scientists and engineers saw the potential and the need for solar technologies.
That group formed the embryo of what was to become the Australia Solar Energy Society. That body has grown significantly in the past few years and now trades under the name Australia Solar Counci (ASC).
About the author
Dr Bill Parker is the editor of the ASC magazine, Solar Progress. ASC members represent academia and industry. The ASC is devoted solely to solar energy and represents the complete spectrum of solar interests.