Shining future for solar power

Daily Telegraph
Friday 26/8/2011 Page: 37

BIG solar is up to the job of powering Australia. The world-leading solar power tower Gemasolar in Spain is exciting and inspiring and it's easy to see why. The plant has only been in commercial operation for a couple of months but has already demonstrated that concentrated solar power can generate an electricity supply that is continuous, reliable and clean. That's right: 24-hour solar power.

Gemasolar uses sunlight to power a steam turbine that is exactly the same as those used in fossil plants. Molten salt tanks that store the sun's heat, much like a big thermos, allow it to generate electricity around the clock for 25,000 households. This mighty combination of concentrated sunlight and energy storage means the plant will run more hours per year than most nuclear and coal power plants. And Spain is not alone.

The US has half a dozen much larger projects in the pipeline that have attracted investment from forward looking companies like Google. America's entry into solar thermal generation means big cost reductions. So, if this great technology exists in countries like Spain and the US, why is Australia not embracing it? Concentrating solar thermal technology is not new. In Australia, clean energy players have been aware of it for many years, but it has taken a while for politicians to catch on.

Most would hear the words "solar power" and picture the more familiar rooftop solar panels. While rooftop solar is a wise investment to reduce the reliance on fossil fuels, it is not able to provide utility scale baseload power. solar thermal holds excellent potential for our country.

Not everyone is happy about this. Vested interests seem intent on running a scare campaign against renewable energy, saying commercial-scale baseload solar is impossible, that other countries are not making the transition so Australia shouldn't either, or that renewable energy is too expensive, and so on.

But once our politicians actually see this technology up and running in other countries, that it works and is rapidly coming down in price, it becomes much harder to continue to pass up the opportunity for Australia to capitalise on some of the world's best solar resources. A renewable energy future is within Australia's grasp we just need the political will.