Work starts on Australia's largest solar PV research facility

First Solar and The University of Queensland have begun construction on a 3.275 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) research facility at UQ’s Gatton campus.

The project will be the largest solar PV research facility in the Southern Hemisphere and provide world-leading research on large-scale solar power systems. It will include a megawatt-hour-scale battery storage research station to improve understanding of the value of short- and medium-term energy storage, its impact on the quality of power supply and any resulting economic benefits.

“The researchers using this facility will provide new insights on integrating large-scale renewable power plants with conventional electricity grids,” said UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Høj.

“These researchers are some of the best in the business, and their teamwork with an innovative global company such as First Solar will ensure optimal returns on a substantial Australian government investment in renewable energy R&D, with excellent implications for society and the environment.”

Covering 10 ha, the plant will produce enough electricity annually to power more than 450 average Australian homes - equivalent to displacing more than 5600 tonnes of carbon dioxide or removing 1590 cars from the road. It will also serve as a pilot plant for new and existing large-scale Australian solar projects, including the Nyngan (102 MW) and Broken Hill (53 MW) plants being built by First Solar for AGL PV Solar Developments, a subsidiary of AGL Energy, in NSW.

UQ and First Solar signed the contract to construct the facility in October last year. First Solar will be supplying and installing about 40,000 advanced thin-film photovoltaic panels in ground-mounted arrays and will also provide engineering, procurement and construction services.

“Our collaboration with UQ will result in advanced local solar-generation technologies that will strengthen the solar industry’s position within Australia’s energy mix,” said Jack Curtis, First Solar’s regional manager for Asia Pacific.

“The Gatton research facility will evidence the value that private and public sector research collaboration can bring to the renewable energy sector. It will also support First Solar in the continued delivery of best-in-class technology to the market.”

Professor Paul Meredith, director of UQ Solar housed within the Global Change Institute, said the project will provide 30% of the UQ Gatton campus’s energy while at the same time enhancing “knowledge and implementation of grid integration of large solar power systems”.

He added, “It will allow us to compare and contrast new technologies by studying electrical and economic performance of multiple PV mounting technologies through the installation and operation of fixed-tilt, single-axis and dual-axis tracker technologies side by side in the same field.”

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