Renewables Building Boom Begins
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ISSUE 101 | AUGUST 17 OFFICIALLY ENDORSED BY THE CLEAN ENERGY COUNCIL Power ahead Renewables building boom begins EPC bottlenecks and opportunities • On the job at White Rock Wind Farm The grid’s changing role DEMAND RESPONSE: CLEAN THE COMPELLING CASE TO HOW INSTALLERS CAN COPE ENERGY’S NEW GENERATION RENATIONALISE THE GRID WITH THE RATES SQUEEZE Page 34 Page 46 Page 64 ECO0817_Cover.indd 1 7/7/17 5:14 pm / Perfect Welding / Solar Energy / Perfect Charging FRONIUS PRIMO. OPTIMISE ENERGY CONSUMPTION BY CONTROLLING ENERGY INTELLIGENTLY WITH YOUR FAVOURITE RESIDENTIAL INVERTER. Fronius Primo: 3.0 – 8.2 KW Single-phase, communicative, reliable yields. The Fronius Primo is the communicative inverter for optimised energy management and maximum self-consumption in the home for both new and existing PV systems. / Still smarter, more flexible, easier to install and of the highest quality. 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Visit www.fronius.com 1300 SOLPAC SOLPAC.COM.AU SOLPAC.COM.AU ECO0817_AllAds.indd 3 7/7/17 11:36 am ECO0817_AllAds.indd 4 7/7/17 11:36 am ECO0817_AllAds.indd 5 7/7/17 11:37 am ISSUE 101 | AUGUST 2017 CONTENTS 32 DEMAND RESPONSE Meet the new power generation .................................................. 34 Birth of a distributed energy exchange ....................................... 39 Where it all started ...........................................................................40 68 WIND Stuck in the mud at White Rock Wind Farm .............................. 52 REGULARS From the editor ................................................................................... 8 THE THE SOLAR SOLAR INSTALLER News in brief ....................................................................................... 10 August 2017 Industry update ................................................................................. 14 INSTALLER Calendar of events ........................................................................... 73 PAGE 59 THE SOLAR INSTALLER FEATURES SPONSORED BY: THE SCREWS THAT HOLD DOWN SOLAR INSTALL RATES DON’T BE SHY! ENTER THE 2017 CEC SOLAR AWARDS! Energy security too important to get wrong ............................. 16 THE STRONG CASE FOR RAPID SHUTDOWN ECO0817_SI_cover.indd 59 Five minutes with Kerim Mekki of Jacobs ................................... 22 7/7/17 5:22 pm Aurecon chief’s call to action .........................................................30 THE SOLAR INSTALLER Roger Dargaville weighs CST and pumped hydro .................... 32 What’s new .......................................................................................... 61 Panel: Lessons from New York ...................................................... 42 All-Energy 2017 preview ................................................................. 62 Panel: Tomorrow’s peer-to-peer solutions .................................44 How to handle the install rates squeeze .................................... 64 Why the grid should be renationalised ........................................46 Solar project that’s a hit with kids ............................................... 66 The only reason a business should succeed ..............................48 Old technology, new solution ........................................................ 68 Don’t overlook community projects ............................................50 MPower’s Pacific powerhouse ...................................................... 69 Challenges of the national buildout .............................................54 Enter the CEC Solar Awards! ......................................................... 70 STORAGE Warning on rapid shutdown ........................................................... 72 Flow battery boss calls for more data ........................................ 18 Market wrap ....................................................................................... 74 Batteries are worth the effort: Enphase ..................................... 24 Installer profile .................................................................................. 76 SOLAR GoodWe’s plans for growth............................................................. 26 Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook UNSW research rejuvenates tired cells ...................................... 28 @EcoGenMag facebook.com/EcoGenMag 6 / ecogeneration August 2017 www.ecogeneration.com.au ECO0817_Contents (1).indd 6 10/7/17 1:33 am ECO0817_AllAds.indd 7 7/7/17 11:38 am EDITORIAL FROM THE EDITOR Editor: Jeremy Chunn K, we’ve started, but there is a long way to go. Last year, [email protected] renewables accounted for 17% of generation in Australia. Of Art Director: Lee McLachlan Othat, large-scale solar made up 1.2% of renewable generation, Publisher: Ian Brooks or 0.2% of all electricity generated. [email protected] Sales Director: Julie McConachy Doesn’t sound like much, does it? And you can imagine what [email protected] they’re saying in some boardrooms. In 2016, solar plants turned out Phone: 0409 381 813 20 thousandths of the electricity Australians used last year. Old man coal must be feeling pretty confident – and the gas guys won’t be Published by: PARAGON MEDIA worried at all. ABN: 49 097 087 860 SSN: 1447-2309 But something else is happening, slowly but surely. PO Box 81, St Leonards, NSW 1590 About $7 billion worth of clean energy projects are underway and Tel: +61 2 9439 1955 the Finkel Review has finally landed on desks in Canberra to focus a Email: [email protected] few minds. Ultimately, it’s clear renewable energy will win on a base www.ecogeneration.com.au argument of raw economics. And if you look at it that way, there really is no argument at all. In this issue of EcoGeneration we have a look around the country OFFICIALLY ENDORSED BY THE CLEAN ENERGY COUNCIL ISSUE 101 | AUGUST 17 to see who’s building what, because the wheel is turning now. We have a report from the muddy slopes of the White Rock Wind Farm (page 52), a round-up of views of the big construction companies (page 54) and an idea of what happens when a sculptor COVER IMAGE: turns to solar (page 66). Power ahead White Rock Wind Farm, Renewables building boom begins courtesy Zinfra There’s also encouraging PV cell research from UNSW (page 28) • On the job at White Rock Wind Farm EPC bottlenecks and opportunitiesThe grid’s changing role HOW INSTALLERS CAN COPE WITH THE RATES SQUEEZEPage 64 THE COMPELLING CASE TO RENATIONALISE THE GRID Page 46 DEMAND RESPONSE: CLEAN ENERGY’S NEW GENERATIONPage 34 and a deep look at what demand response can do (on page 34). 7/7/17 5:14 pm ECO0817_Cover.indd 1 There’s much else, of course, because clean energy is a good story that’s nowhere near its end. EcoGeneration is printed on Lumi paper which is PEFC-certified and manufactured in an ISO 14001-certified mill. Lumi paper also contains premium white waste paper, reducing matter going into landfill. Jeremy Chunn This magazine is available to interested parties EcoGeneration editor throughout Australia and overseas. The magazine is also available by subscription. The publisher welcomes editorial contributions from interested parties, however, the publisher and the Editorial Board accept no responsibility for the content of these contributions and the views contained therein THE ECOGENERATION EDITORIAL BOARD are not necessarily those of the publisher or of the Editorial Board. The publisher and the Alan Pears, AM, is a Senior Industry Fellow at RMIT University and advises industry and Editorial