UQ leads solar energy research

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Tags: discovery, renewable energy, summer-2011, sustainability

Contact Video from The University of Queensland on Vimeo.

The University of Queensland’s new 1.22 megawatt solar power system is “one of the most globally significant pieces of solar research infrastructure anywhere in the world”, according to lead researcher Professor Paul Meredith.

On completion in June, the project became Australia’s largest flat panel photovoltaic solar power system.

“This is only one project in a large portfolio of solar research that UQ currently has,” says Professor Meredith, from UQ’s Global Change Institute and School of Mathematics and Physics.

“We have very important work in developing the next generation of solar photovoltaic cells and we recently announced we will lead the research program on the solar thermal power plant to be built by the Solar Dawn consortium at Chinchilla in western Queensland.

“This project, and all our others, place UQ as one of the premier solar research institutes in the region if not globally.”

The new solar power system, comprising more than 5000 panels across the rooftops of four large buildings at St Lucia, performs a dual role of generating “green” electricity for the University while providing a world-leading piece of research infrastructure.

The array has drawn significant attention from industry, government and other researchers, and firmly positioned UQ as a research leader in solar power and renewable energy more broadly.

The roof of the multi-storey carparks at St Lucia forms part of Australia's largest flat panel photovoltaic solar power system

The array project forms one element of the new UQ Energy Initiative which was established this year to integrate existing strengths across the spectrum of energy research.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield said the UQ Solar Array provided between five and six percent of peak electricity demand at the St Lucia campus. From July to October, the system had already cut $100,000 from the University’s electricity bills.

“The University is focused on reducing carbon emissions and increasing its use of renewable energy,” Professor Greenfield said.

“As well as being part of the University’s functional energy infrastructure, the solar array will underpin research in diverse fields including physics, engineering, economics and sustainability.

“The project is enhanced by its strong industry partnerships, including research agreements with a number of world-leading companies in renewable power.”

This asset will be shared with the community, by giving industry, researchers, school students, teachers and any other interested people access to a website showing live and historical data about the power generated from the UQ array.

UQ’s partners in the solar energy research space are:

• Brisbane firm Ingenero, which installed the array, and worked on its design and engineering
• Trina Solar, which supplied the panels and will be part of several research projects, one involving the first large-scale field test of a prototype device that increases the efficiency of solar panels
• ASX-listed, Brisbane-based RedFlow, which supplied an industrial-scale bromine battery bank that is connected to a 339kW section of solar panels on one of UQ’s multi-storey carparks
• Electricity wholesaler and retailer Energex, which donated state-of-the-art equipment to allow monitoring and analysis of the power feed from the UQ solar array
• The Queensland Government’s Office of Clean Energy, which provided $1.5 million towards the overall cost of the UQ Solar Array

In addition to the rooftop panels, UQ has installed a ground-mounted, seven-metre-by-six metre 8.4 kilowatt concentrating photovoltaic array (CPV) that tracks the sun each day as it moves across the sky.

Ingenero donated the CPV array to allow UQ researchers to undertake detailed comparisons with a different type of solar technology.

Designing and installing Australia’s biggest rooftop PV solar power system drew on the combined resources and significant expertise of UQ academics, working with industry leaders.

UQ’s Property & Facilities division and the School of Mathematics and Physics worked closely with engineering consultants Aurecon, Ingenero and leading photovoltaic company Trina Solar from China.

UQ’s Global Change Institute has recently opened the Solar Research Resource Centre at St Lucia, providing a facility industry, school and community groups can visit to learn about the UQ Solar Array and renewable power.

The UQ Solar Array is almost 25 percent larger than any other flat panel PV system in Australia.

UQ Property & Facilities Deputy Director Geoff Dennis said the total $7.75 million cost included the array, construction of the visitor resource centre, the data management web interface and ancillary research programs.

The cost of the photovoltaic design and installation was $4.825 million, equating to a competitive $3.95 per watt.

Mr Dennis said UQ was boosting its solar energy production at other sites including Heron Island, Gatton and Stradbroke Island.

Construction on the St Lucia array was completed in June, after setbacks due to the January floods, and Queensland Energy Minister Stephen Robertson officially launched the project in July.

By Fiona Cameron

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