Solar vision for Australia
by Kelly Stone
A new national solar testing centre at UniSA’s Mawson Lakes campus is harnessing the power of the sun to produce a bright future for solar energy in Australian homes.
Researchers at the Sustainable Energy Industry Support Centre (Institute for Sustainable Systems and Technologies) are testing solar powered products including solar hot water, solar air conditioning and solar heating.
And they’re hoping for greener living within the next five years.
"This is our vision to have all Australian homes using the sun for heating and cooling, as well as hot water," said centre director Professor Wasim Saman.
The centre has been formed with a key focus on supporting solar hot water applications in Australia through research, education, testing and product development. It was officially opened by Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett on April 17.
Minister Garrett said Australia’s capacity to develop advanced solar technologies had taken another step forward with the opening of the centre.
"This cutting-edge testing centre is now available for industry use and to support the research and development of solar hot water, solar heating systems and other solar techno-logies," Minister Garrett said.
"We now have an Australian facility that can encourage industry innovation and improve our solar technologies and deliver better quality products to Australians, sooner.
"This comes at an opportune time, with the Government’s $3.9 billion Energy Efficient Homes Package inspiring up to 300,000 households to install a solar hot water system and bolstering the solar hot water industry."
At the testing facility, solar thermal technologies are put to the test in a range of ways including measuring thermal performance of solar collectors, checking the impact of rainfall and large hail stones, evaluating safety and performance during extended periods of no hot water draw-off and protection against freezing temperatures.
Prof Saman believes the mainstreaming of solar hot water systems in Australia’s eight million homes is the most economically effective way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the housing sector while helping householders cut their energy bills.
"Conventional water heaters are the biggest culprits for producing greenhouse gases in homes," he said.
"If we can get solar hot water on the roofs of Australian houses, we’re going to get significant decreases in our greenhouse gas emissions."
UniSA Pro Vice Chancellor Information Technology, Engineering and Environment, Professor Andrew Parfitt, said UniSA was very proud to be the host of the centre.
"At its heart, the centre aims to build on advances in the technology and testing of solar thermal energy systems to improve uptake and ultimately reduce carbon footprint. This is a fabulous opportunity for Adelaide and South Australia to make a major contribution to solar thermal systems," Prof Parfitt said.
"The Sustainable Energy Industry Support Centre brings together a number of key stakeholders – Commonwealth and State Governments and industries such as Rinnai, Rheem and many other valued industry partners who were represented at the launch.
"Its steering committee comprises members from the Clean Energy Council; the Department of Environ-ment, Water Heritage and the Arts; the Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator and by industry.
"We look forward to a fruitful and perhaps transformational relationship with all our partners in this venture."