UQ builds its own solar system

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Tags: St Lucia campus, summer-2010, sustainability

Professor Paul Meredith with solar cells on top of the Sir Llew Edwards Building

The University is making a bold investment in green energy with its $7.75 million, 1.2 megawatt photovoltaic solar array, which is due for completion at the end of 2010.

The panels will be installed on the two multi-storey car parks, the UQ Centre and the Sir Llew Edwards Building.

Deputy Director of Property and Facilities Geoff Dennis said the system was expected to generate about six percent of the St Lucia campus’s average peak demand and 1.6 percent of its annual electricity usage, resulting in a $6 million saving on electricity costs over the next 15 years.

“The system will recover its own cost in 15 years — or sooner, depending on future power prices — but it will have a life of about 25 years,” Mr Dennis said.

Brisbane firm Ingenero won the tender to build the system, with Trina Solar supplying the panels.

“The innovative deal signed between UQ and Ingenero was made possible by a $1.5 million contribution from the Queensland Government and substantial contribution from our technology partners,” Mr Dennis said.

“This was achievable because all parties saw the value of engaging with UQ’s research capabilities, and from gaining access to the system’s valuable performance data.”

Professor Paul Meredith, a senior researcher with the School of Mathematics and Physics, worked for 18 months designing the system and negotiating the government and corporate partnerships that made the deal possible.

“Everyone wanted to be involved,” Professor Meredith said.

“This really is a very important project. Research-wise, it is at the cutting edge globally. From a national perspective, it is a very significant piece of infrastructure.”

Professor Meredith said UQ electrical engineering experts would use the system to research ways of feeding electricity into grids from stand-alone generating plants.

This would pave the way for numerous greenhouse-friendly power generating plants — including solar, wind, wave and biomass — to start feeding into electricity grids everywhere.

The system’s performance data will also be streamed live to the Internet for use by schools or anyone with an interest in solar power.

Professor Meredith said the solar power plant catapulted UQ into the big league of solar research, and the new infrastructure was “the envy of other universities”.

In April, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh announced a grant of $1.5 million towards the project.

She noted the system would save about 1750 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually — equivalent to taking 335 cars off the roads each year. The panels themselves will cover an area equivalent to about one-and-a-half rugby fields.

By Fiona Cameron

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