Queensland’s largest solar array and the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) research facility in the southern hemisphere was switched on at University of Queensland’s Gatton campus on Friday.
The 3.275 megawatt Gatton Solar Research Facility is made up of more than 37,000 solar panels, which will generate more power than what is consumed by 450 average Queensland homes. The facility will avoid the equivalent of 5600 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
Configured in tracking and non-tracking arrays and situated at the campus’s ten-hectare former airstrip, the new installation brings UQ’s total solar generation capacity to more than five megawatts. The facility will also incorporate a megawatt-hour-scale battery storage system in the next few months.
As well as generating clean power for UQ, the solar farm’s research aspects will be an equally important function.
UQ Solar Director and Vice-Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow Professor Paul Meredith said the facility would be a game-changer in this regard.
“This research is about improving the way that we integrate solar into our state’s overall energy mix. It also works towards establishing and proving the business model for solar generation in Australia at the megawatt scale,” he said.
“Queensland gets about 2700 hours of sunlight a year. This site turns that into energy, and into knowledge about how to better service local, national and international energy needs through effective solar technologies”
In earlier comments, Professor Meredith said the facility will enable researchers to compare new technologies by studying electrical and economic performance of multiple PV mounting technologies – fixed-tilt, single-axis and dual-axis trackers – side-by-side in the same field. The battery unit will enhance understanding of the value of short and medium-term energy storage.
This latest addition may not be the end of UQ’s major solar installations – the potential still exists for expansion.
The Gatton Solar Research Facility development is funded by a $40.7 million Federal Government Education Investment Fund program grant administered by the Department of Education. The project is managed by UQ’s Global Change Institute (GCI), an independent source of innovative research, ideas and advice for addressing the challenges of a changing world.
Queensland’s solar love affair isn’t confined to large installations – it’s also a stronghold for residential solar power systems and has the largest number of any state or territory in Australia.
