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Report: in the Spotlight Australian Solar Energy R&D Outcomes And Prepared for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency In the spotlight: Australian solar energy R&D outcomes and achievements in a global context A review of ARENA’s portfolio of solar research and development July 2018 About this report The research was commissioned by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, (ARENA). This document presents the findings of reviews carried out by ITP Renewables in 2016 and 2018 of ARENA’s portfolio of solar research, development and pilot-scale demonstration projects, as well as associated PhD and Post-Doc Fellowship programs. Cover images From left to right: Solar Hybrid Fuels, CSIRO CloudCAM PV Generation Forecasting, Fulcrum 3D Forecasting Distributed Solar Energy, ANU About ITP Renewables The IT Power Group, formed in 1981, is a specialist renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon markets consulting company. The Group has offices and projects throughout the world. ITP Renewables was established in 2003 and has undertaken a wide range of projects, including providing advice for government policy, feasibility studies for large renewable energy power systems, designing renewable energy power systems, developing micro-finance models for community-owned power systems in developing countries and modelling large-scale power systems for industrial use. The staff at ITP have backgrounds in research, renewable energy and energy efficiency, development and implementation, managing and reviewing government programs, high level policy analysis and research, including carbon markets, engineering design and project management. Report Control Record Document prepared by: ITP Renewables Ph: +61 2 6257 3511 PO Box 6127 Fx : +61 2 6257 3611 O’Connor ACT 2602 [email protected] Australia www.itpau.com.au Document Control Report Title In the spotlight: Australian solar energy R&D outcomes and achievements in a global context Client Contract No. PO1381 ITP Project No. A0271 Filepath Work/0Projects/A0271 ARENA Solar R&D Review Update/1Deliverables/Solar R&D Synthesis June_2018.pdf Client ARENA Client Contact Damir Ivkovic Rev Date Status Authors Project Manager Approved 1.0 May 2018 Draft M. Watt, K. Lovegrove, D. Jordan, J. Wyder, M. Watt J. Wyder R. Bader. 21.0 June 2018 Final M. Watt, K. Lovegrove, D. Jordan, J. Wyder, M. Watt J. Wyder R. Bader. 1 July 2018 Final (Rev) M. Watt, K. Lovegrove, D. Jordan, J. Wyder, M. Watt D. Jordan R. Bader. A person or organisation choosing to use documents prepared by IT Power (Australia) Pty Limited, trading as ITP Renewables, accepts: i) Conclusions and figures presented in draft documents are subject to change. ITP accepts no responsibility for their use outside of the original report. ii) The document is only to be used for purposes explicitly agreed to by ITP. iii) All responsibility and risks associated with the use of this report lie with the person or organisation who chooses to use it. In the spotlight: Australian solar energy R&D outcomes and achievements in a global context ii TABLE OF CONTENTS TERMS OF REFERENCE V ABBREVIATIONS VI EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 Key Findings of this report ............................................................................................................................ 2 Research Aims ............................................................................................................................................. 2 Technology Development Progression ........................................................................................................ 3 Project Outputs ............................................................................................................................................. 3 Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................. 3 1. CASE STUDIES 5 1.1. Improving the Efficiency of Low Quality Low Cost Silicon Wafers ..................................................... 5 1.2. Low Cost, High Efficiency Kesterite Solar Cells on Silicon and BIPV Substrates ............................. 8 1.3. Printed Solar Cells - Perovskites ...................................................................................................... 10 1.4. Concentrating Solar Fuels ................................................................................................................ 12 1.5. Solar-driven Supercritical CO2 Brayton Cycle ................................................................................. 14 1.6. Vast Solar Grid-Connected CSP R&D Facility with Thermal Energy Storage ................................. 16 1.7. Integrated Solar Radiation Data Sources over Australia ................................................................. 18 1.8. CloudCam - Cloud Detection and Prediction for Maximising Solar PV Utilisation in Off-grid Hybrid Power Systems ................................................................................................................................ 20 1.9. Consumer energy systems providing cost-effective grid support (CONSORT) ............................... 22 2. SOLAR TECHNOLOGIES – BRIEF TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW 24 2.1. Photovoltaics .................................................................................................................................... 24 2.2. Concentrated Solar Thermal Systems ............................................................................................. 25 2.3. Enabling ........................................................................................................................................... 27 3. GOVERNMENT SOLAR R&D SUPPORT 28 3.1. ARENA Objectives ........................................................................................................................... 28 3.2. ARENA Program Funding ................................................................................................................ 30 3.3. Background to ARENA’s Solar R&D Activities ................................................................................. 30 3.4. ARENA’s R&D Program ................................................................................................................... 32 4. ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK 37 4.1. Assessment of the Scholarship and Fellowship Program ................................................................ 38 5. OVERALL PROGRAM ASSESSMENT 39 5.1. Contribution to ARENA’s Purpose ................................................................................................... 39 5.2. Key Achievements ............................................................................................................................ 40 5.3. Contribution to Solar Development .................................................................................................. 45 5.4. Allocation of Funding by Project Objectives ..................................................................................... 50 5.5. Allocation of funding by Lead Organisation ..................................................................................... 50 5.6. Regional allocation of funding .......................................................................................................... 51 In the spotlight: Australian solar energy R&D outcomes and achievements in a global context iii 5.7. Technology Development Progression ............................................................................................ 52 5.8. Leverage of ARENA Funding ........................................................................................................... 53 5.9. Project Outputs ................................................................................................................................. 53 6. ASSESSMENT OF PHD AND POST-DOC FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM 55 6.1. Background ...................................................................................................................................... 55 6.2. Survey Results ................................................................................................................................. 55 7. CONCLUSIONS 60 APPENDIX A: ANALYSIS METRICS 62 A.1 Technology Readiness Level Definitions ......................................................................................... 67 APPENDIX B: ANALYSIS OF PV PROJECTS 68 B.1 Background ...................................................................................................................................... 68 B.2 PV Research Facilities ..................................................................................................................... 70 B.3 Improving Current PV Technology ................................................................................................... 71 B.4 Advanced PV Concepts ................................................................................................................... 73 B.5 Commercial Issues and Trends for PV ............................................................................................ 74 B.6 Implementation Issues and Trends for PV ....................................................................................... 75 B.7 Resourcing Issues and Trends for PV ............................................................................................. 75 B.8 PV Industry Engagement Opportunities ........................................................................................... 76 B.9 Analysis of PV Funding Allocation and Effort ..................................................................................
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