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Politics : Rat's Nest - Chronicles of Collapse -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wharf Rat who wrote (6039)	6/22/2007 6:40:18 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24225

Solar Energy Last Update: Friday, June 15, 2007. 1:20pm AWST Australia is resource rich and has one of the most valuable and infinite sources of energy readily available. This energy is solar energy and the demand for this energy on a global scale is on the rise with Germany and Japan leading the way. Australia once a global leader has lost its position. According to the 5 June 2007 Legislative Assembly in NSW Parliament, speaker Mr Peter Draper says the solar industry in Germany is a growing industry with the country installing 960 Megawatts of solar power last year with an increase of 2800 Megawatts by 2010. This equates to one million solar units installed on house roof tops per year in Germany. With much of Australia accessible to solar energy sources, Outback Energy Supply company principal Jim Thomson says getting solar panels on houses in Australia to replicate the action taken in Germany would be great. "It would be nice to see it happen. It is a big ask however. Germany has achieved that with the right signals from the government and the investment community to achieve that in the last ten years. There isn't any reason why we couldn't do it in Australia," he said. According to Mr Thomson, many parts of the region are interested in solar energy with home owners in Esperance and Kalgoorlie recently installing solar features. "Both of these homes received funding of 50 per cent of all costs relating to the installation of their systems. With the appropriate energy efficiency measures being implemented we expect that each home would become net exporters of energy annually," he said. "Our potential is absolutely fantastic compared to Germany. It is absolutely crazy that countries like Japan and Germany where we were all on the same installed capacity in 1998 but now Japan is 13 times higher than Australia in installed capacity and the Germans are up there as well," he said. We have fallen in the last ten years, completely behind the rest of the world in our installed capacity of solar Mr Thomson says being a resource rich country may be inhibiting our growth with the development of the solar industry. "They (other countries) don't have big coal resources like Australia does so they are importers of energy whereas Australia is an exporter of energy. Politically and industrially, we have supported the coal industry of the past but we were not aware that using coal as an energy resource is harming our planet. We have to look at other ways that are a lot more elegant and intelligent by not having holes in the ground and chewing up energy," he said. According to Mr Thomson, solar in comparison to other forms of energy is currently 25 per cent higher but costs could change with government support and funding. "The Renewable Energy industry, the wind and the solar energy industries would like to see a fair portion of that funding in the energy and infrastructure game, coming in to the renewables industry," he said. "We have a small amount (of funding) but nowhere near enough. That is how Germany increased their uptake, by having the correct drivers and the signals for the market place coming from government. In Germany, an investment in a solar farm is up there with property and the share market in terms of tax deduction and returns. If you are looking to put your money away in a superannuation fund somewhere, a solar farm in Germany is a viable option," he said. Mr Thomson says the solar systems are easy to install and to maintain with a backup utilising mainstream power sources. "What you are doing with the solar panels on your roof is supplementing the grid electricity or off-setting the use of the grid electricity. At night time, you will be using the power off the grid and during the day if the system is sized correctly, you are using energy efficient principles in the home. The system on the roof will be exporting in to the grid. If you have got the sums right, it will be a higher amount of electricity imported overall than what you are importing," Mr Thomson said. abc.net.au