MIXED SIGNALS FOR AUSTRALIA SOLAR
Australia’s rising solar power ‘revolution’; After record-breaking solar project, scientists question why coal-dominated nation ignores renewable innovation
Royce Kurmelovs, January 13, 2015 (Al Jazeera)
“…A team at [Australia’s] University of New South Wales led by professor Martin Green worked with a local company to create a [world record 40% efficient] concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) solar energy system that uses [readily available materials and] mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a central solar panel to generate electricity [raising hopes the fossil-fuel dominated country may someday switch off its reliance on coal]…This kind of innovation has become the hallmark of the solar energy industry, and it is only going to grow, according to Green…With a huge uptick in the number of people installing solar-powered systems on their roofs, there is less demand on the power grid during periods of peak usage…This in turn is forcing electricity prices lower and will force a fundamental change in the way developed nations generate electricity…In Australia the solar industry is supported through subsidies such as the renewable energy target (RET)…But with a government review of the program and uncertainties around its future, large-scale investment in renewable energy projects such as wind farms has ground to a halt…One of [the Prime Minister Tony Abbott-led conservative Liberal Party’s] few victories came in the area of climate change, with the repeal of the emissions trading scheme and the carbon tax, which Abbott labeled a threat to economic growth…” click here for more
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