Largest Rooftop Solar Panel System in Australia Unveiled

The University of Queensland has proudly unveiled the largest flat panel PV array in the country, a very impressive sight of 5000 solar grids, collectively the size of 1 ½ football fields, which have been installed on four buildings at the university's St Lucia campus.

Energy Minister Stephen Robertson officially opened the array which is expected to produce about 1750 megawatt hours of renewable energy annually and offset around five percent on UQ’s peak demand power requirements.

The $7.75 million solar project is host to a 8.4 kilowatt concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) array that tracks the sun’s position and nearly 5000 silicon based solar panels that is expected to offset about 1770 tons of carbon per annum equivalent to the emissions of nearly 350 cars.

The milestone was made possible by the Queensland Government with a $1.5 million contribution in addition to support from Energex, Ingenero, and Redflow, who have contributed  a 200 kw storage battery which will allow important research into solar power capture techniques during the day, and feeding it into the grid at night and other times of peak demand.

The aim of the project is not only to offset carbon emission of the University but also to allow researchers from UQ to compare the efficiency and carbon reduction rate of various solar power technologies that will further develop the technology at hand and future innovations that will come in our way.

Professor Meredith, of the Global Change Institute, said the polycrystalline silicon solar panels position UQ as a leader in solar power research; "It's a very, very valuable piece of research infrastructure," he said……It is globally significant - I only know of a small handful of universities around the world that have anything like this and it really positions us, as the University of Queensland, as a major research provider in solar energy."

Energy Minister Stephen Robertson said that the project will pave way for future solar projects and an integration of large scale applications, thanks to the data that will be collected through the project.

 

He also added that he will be visiting almost all parts of Queensland to make major renewable energy announcements as the state seeks better energy sources. An important part of his tour will also help to promote existing Bligh Government initiatives that are encouraging the take up of solar power technologies by households and small businesses, such as the Solar Hot Water Rebate and Solar Bonus Scheme.