It was a great week for Australian solar I’m glad to say. Not only did the Government launch a bid to boost manufacturing, but copper solar company SunDrive announced a new plant in NSW.
The Australian Government’s $1B Solar SunShot pledge was big news. It promises to not only supersize solar manufacturing here, but ensure energy security, swap coal and gas jobs for renewable ones, and protect us from global supply chain shocks.
There’s a lot at stake of course. If Australia hopes to meet its climate goals by 2050 when solar should provide most of our electricity then we will need a lot more panels than we have now.
Luckily we have a great reputation in solar technology, but we still have only one company making panels on a commercial scale. We’re not alone as the home grown solar industries in many countries have shrunk in response to the dominance of the Chinese.
One local company who looks like turning things around is SunDrive which I’ve written about before. The Sydney-based company—backed by high profile investors like Mike Cannon-Brookes—is using copper for PV cell metallisation, instead of silver.
Its a smart move. Given that copper is around one hundred times cheaper and one thousand times more abundant than silver, SunDrive says the costs of an installed solar panel will be 20-30% cheaper than other high-efficiency cells.
The new deal with energy giant AGL is also smart. Not only will it create a “first of its kind” solar manufacturing facility producing 5GW of panels a year, but opens up the possibility of a direct line to AGL customers, one of the country’s largest solar distributors and installers.
Cheers, John Fennell
