Aust `at risk of losing its 10 place in sun' in solar race

Canberra Times
Wednesday 3/6/2009 Page: 2

Australia risks losing the high-tech job skills needed to export or understand new solar technologies unless it boosts support for homegrown innovation, a report says. An analysis of solar energy patents filed in Australia over the past five years shows Australian inventors are already struggling to make a major commercial impact in one of the world's fastest-growing renewable energy industries.

The report, by Melbourne patent attorneys Griffith Hack, says Australia is "losing its place in the sun" and falling well behind a number of other countries in supporting solar energy innovation. Although Australia has produced two of the world's leading solar innovators - solar photovoltaic billionaire Dr Zhengrong Shi, and solar water heater pioneer Dr David Mills - both were forced to move overseas after failing to secure government backing for their technologies.

The Griffith Hack report shows the number of Australian solar energy patent applications rose from 67 in 2003 to 135 in 2008, but this was caused by a surge in overseas patent registrations. Australian solar energy patent applications fell from 36% to 19% over the live-year period, while the number of patents registered in Australia by United States applicants quadrupled.

The leading solar patent applicant in Australia was BP, followed by Japanese companies Canon and Fujikura, Queensland company Solar Systems, Princeton University, General Electric, Nippon Kayaku and the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands. The top Australian enterprises were Solar Systems (11 patent applications), the University of New South Wales (7 patents) Rheem (6), the Australian National University (five) and Queanbeyan company Dyesol (4).

Director of the ANU's centre for sustainable energy systems, Professor Andrew Blakers said the report reinforced the need for a massive expansion in government support for solar energy technology. "This support should focus strongly upon generation of intellectual property, so that in the future Australia can build major industries around the manufacture and export of intellectual property rich products and services."

Professor Blakers said spending initiatives announced in the recent federal budget of $1.6 billion for solar flagships were welcome, but a similar sum should be invested in supporting commercial production of Australian innovation. ANU energy systems engineer Dr Klaus Weber and Professor Blakers are co-inventors of sliver cells - silicon wafers predicted to revolutionise photovoltaic energy by cutting the size and cost of solar panels.

But despite the technology's global potential, sliver cells are struggling to achieve the backing needed to achieve large-scale commercialisation in Australia. Professor Blakers said investment was urgently needed to massively expand Australia's educational and training capacity for solar energy. "After a decade of neglect, Australia has a tiny skill base compared with the opportunities, and our universities and TAFEs need to repair this deficiency, starting immediately," he said.

Australian Greens deputy leader, Senator Christine Milne said the Griffith Hack report showed Australia's loss of jobs in clean, green technologies was "coming home to roost right now." "Instead of delivering a jobs booth in building a zero emissions economy, our governments are shackling its to 19th century polluting industries which are inexorably losing jobs and market share. There is a huge opportunity cost in tying the economy to fossil fuels and failing to get behind renewables."