Alice Springs Solar Station the Biggest In Australia

Alice Springs Solar Station

The long awaited Alice Springs solar power station has now been switched on.

The solar station is made up of around 3000 Alice Springs solar panels altogether. These solar panels are worth over $6 million and are predicted to generate enough power for close to 300 houses.

The Alice Springs solar station in return aims to service high number of renters who are not able to install solar panels on their own homes however still want to use green energy.

The high-tech solar system uses an advanced sun tracking system which enables the panels to be exposed to the sunlight for a most of the day as it tracks the sun’s movements.

SunPower’s managing director Bob Blakiston says the project was made viable by the signing of a 20-year purchase agreement

As of July 2014, the country’s largest tracking solar plant tripled its capacity thanks to a $13 million loan from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Epuron, a renewable energy company, is responsible for the loan at the Uterne facility just south of Alice Springs.

The new loan allowed the company to expand its capacity another 3.1 megawatts, making a huge difference to the output of energy to households and the grid.

Oliver Yates, Clean Energy Finance Corporation CEO, described the expansion as a solid investment for the future.

“Clearly the facility benefits from the long-term power purchase agreement from the Northern Territory’s Power and Water”, he said.

The loan was a part of a larger $227 million investment from the CEFC to various clean energy projects around the country. Despite the Federal Government’s attempts to tear down the entire corporation of clean energy loans, the motion was voted down in the Senate and the CEFC is business as usual, said Mr Yates.

Company Director, Martin Poole, added that “it’s very important because Alice Springs is one of those places where things like this can happen sooner, simply because the sun is that much better.”

The Author

I took an interest in the Australian energy sector close to ten years ago and since then have monitored the trends, technologies and direction of the Australian Energy Market. I was drawn to the Australian solar market in 2008 and since then have worked heavily in the field. I am partnered with national and international solar energy companies, from manufacturers of solar panel and inverter technology, online software developers that introduce tools to quote, monitor and manage solar power systems and media organisations who like myself, closely monitor the solar and renewable energy sector.