Can Australia keep its solar advantage?

As I write this in Sydney the Australian body politic fights a continuing battle over whether Australia will or won’t have a carbon tax and, if so, what form will it take and which sectors are to be fully or partly compensated. If it were not for a “hung” parliament, with neither major party having control on its own, there would be no question of such a tax or of a carbon trading scheme for the coming few years.

My personal view is that Australia is perhaps in the throes of carelessly discarding its once-only chance to take leadership in one of the most important and financially and morally rewarding businesses of the coming decades: clean, renewable energy. Australia has a very unusual and special place in this business. It is a high-energy, developed economy with easily sufficient sources of solar, wind, wave, tidal and waste biomass energy to provide all our needs. Unlike some of our unluckier neighbours in the region, we have no need to resort to nuclear energy, with its negative learning curve and challenging risks, despite this country holding a significant fraction of global uranium reserves. Yet this blessed country focuses on clinging to its past and present financial dependence on exploitation of its abundant coal and gas in preference to embracing a conversion to sustainable energy supply. A report released recently by the Australian Conservation Foundation states that “funding for programs to address climate change has increased by about $500 million since 2007-08, but incentives that encourage pollution have ballooned by more than $1.5 billion”.

By some projections, photovoltaics will need to be one of the world’s largest industries by the end of this century if we are to continue to provide energy for our growing needs and to avoid the worst effects of increasing carbon in the atmosphere. Australia, as with no other technology area, has been at the cutting edge of silicon photovoltaics since the mid 1980s, yet, now that the business is serious and profitable, it argues while other nations invest heavily in the abundant new opportunities.

That said, despite the awkward political situation, the fact is that we are living in the most positive time for Australian solar technology in nearly 30 years. From my position in an Australian solar energy research and education institution, I see great hope and excitement for the sector. Overseas interest in collaboration and in application of Australian research results is at an unprecedented level, federal government action – including the Australian Solar Institute and Solar Flagships - is building activity in Australia, and other steps by state governments and private industry are all evidence of growing confidence in a solar-powered future. The Australian Solar Institute has announced its first two tranches of grants for solar photovoltaic and solar thermal research and more will follow over the next few years. Solar Flagships will support partnerships to build large photovoltaic and solar thermal power stations.

Major international manufacturers are seeking and adopting world-leading Australian-developed photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies at an increasing rate and those technology options continue to flow. Australian intellectual property is in strong demand and has an opportunity to become one of the world’s dominant photovoltaics technologies within the next few years. Coupled to that, local and international student interest in Australia’s educational opportunities in this field continues to grow, despite the strong Australian dollar. Australian photovoltaics researchers look forward to a continuing and growing relationship with policy developers, universities, polytechnics, manufacturers and installers, realising the next clever ideas for closing the gap between realistic production efficiencies and the thermodynamic limits.

Richard Corkish, Head, School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering, UNSW