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Visit www.fronius.com www.24hoursofsun.com SOLPAC.COM.AU ECO0217_Allads.indd 3 13-Jan-17 11:22:30 AM ISSUE 98 | FEBRUARY 2017 CONTENTS 36 WIND CEFC’s lowdown on farm locations ............................................. 26 Industry roundtable ......................................................................... 42 SOLAR Jinko’s view of the module market .............................................. 18 People power is pushing sun power ........................................... 36 The duck curve, friend or foe? ...................................................... 64 STORAGE 42 Batteries’ place in the grid ............................................................. 30 Waiting for storage to go viral ...................................................... 32 REGULARS From the editor .................................................................................... 6 News in brief ........................................................................................ 8 THE Industry update ................................................................................. 14 SOLAR Calendar of events ........................................................................... 70 INSTALLER FEATURES The pre-2020 construction hump ................................................ 12 PAGE 67 Smart customers will want smart systems ............................... 16 Sell the benefits, not the jargon .................................................. 24 The rules of community projects ................................................ 34 Delta eyes growth in commercial sector .................................. 48 THE SOLAR INSTALLER Reposit at the cutting edge ........................................................... 50 What’s new ......................................................................................... 69 Pumped hydro’s place in the network ....................................... 52 Solar accreditation update ............................................................ 70 The importance of good training ................................................ 54 Mildura airport goes solar ............................................................. 72 Who will build the solar plants ..................................................... 63 First class Melbourne install ........................................................ 73 Sydney Water’s recipe for power ................................................. 66 Clean energy market wrap ............................................................. 74 Installer profile: Mark Nicholson .................................................. 76 ENERGY EFFICIENCY Australia and energy efficiency, what’s wrong? ...................... 20 Hope for CSIRO’s air-con research .............................................. 22 Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook @EcoGenMag facebook.com/EcoGenMag IEA underlines the power of good policy .................................... 28 4 / ecogeneration February 2017 www.ecogeneration.com.au ECO0217_Contents.indd 4 13-Jan-17 4:23:16 PM TheThe World'sWorld's No.No. 11 PVPV ModuleModule ManufacturerManufacturer Jinko Eagle MX - That's Smart! 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UTILITY | COMMERCIAL| RESIDENTIAL www.jinko-smart.com Call: 1300 326 182 Email: [email protected] ECO0217_Allads.indd 5 13-Jan-17 11:23:05 AM EDITORIAL FROM THE EDITOR Editor: Jeremy Chunn here we were merrily working away at about 3.15pm on a bloody [email protected] Thot Wednesday afternoon when all of a sudden — kersplat! — our Art Director: Lee McLachlan screens go black, the lights go off and the fridge gives off a death Publisher: Ian Brooks rattle. It was a blackout. Even in 2017, even in Sydney. [email protected] Sales Director: Julie McConachy Was I surprised? Not really. A stroll up the road only a couple of [email protected] hours previously had been a strange experience of stepping from Phone: 0409 381 813 near 40-degree heat through plumes of chilled air billowing from open shopfront doorways. It was as though news the temperature Published by: PARAGON MEDIA had punched above 35 degrees should be met with a celebration of ABN: 49 097 087 860 SSN: 1447-2309 air-con indulgence. The price we pay? Random outages. PO Box 81, St Leonards, NSW 1590 When will people get the message about energy efficiency? The Tel: +61 2 9439 1955 CSIRO (page 22) and the International Energy Agency (page 28) are Email: [email protected] doing all they can to push the cause, but technology will one day do www.ecogeneration.com.au much of the work for us. This issue has some great pieces on who’s doing what (on pages 16, 30 and 51). Community groups are also doing all they can to spread the news about solar and storage (pages OFFICIALLY ENDORSED BY THE CLEAN ENERGY COUNCIL ISSUE 98 | FEBRUARY 2017 36 to 40), so fingers crossed. The big-hitter on the supply side will be wind, of course, and our roundtable on page 42 is a forecast of how we’re placed to meet the RET. It’s a good news story. And there’s even a poster for your wall! Follow the wind Industry roundtable A clean energy future is coming — with no more blackouts. Foldout wind farm map COVER IMAGE: Challenges to growth Stockr/Shutterstock SPECIAL Training feature THE ROLE OF PUMPED HYDRO AND NEW TRANSMISSIONPage 52 HOW TO GET THOSE COMMUNITY PROJECTS OFF THE GROUND Page 34 WHAT’S HOLDING BACK THE SURGE IN BATTERY INQUIRIESPage 32 Jeremy Chunn 13-Jan-17 4:28:21 PM ECO0217_Cover.indd 1 EcoGeneration editor 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. THE ECOGENERATION EDITORIAL BOARD This magazine is available to interested parties throughout Australia and overseas. The Alicia Webb works with the Wind Energy and Bioenergy Directorates at the Clean Energy magazine is also available by subscription. Council, developing policy, writing submissions and representing the industries. She The publisher welcomes editorial contributions started her career as a project assistant for Vestas on the construction of a Victorian from interested parties, however, the publisher and the Editorial Board accept no wind farm, before working as a technical wind energy consultant specialising in wind responsibility for the content of these monitoring and energy resource analyses and a year working in the emerging community contributions and the views contained therein renewables sector. She has a degree in Mechatronics Engineering from the UWA. are not necessarily those of the publisher or of the