Solar array powering ahead

The University of Queensland’s $7.75 million solar power system at St Lucia has reached a milestone, with installation completed on one of the project’s most visible components.

UQ is believed to be leading the way in solar power research after a 7 x 6 m, 8.4 kW concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) array that tracks the sun was installed on Sir Fred Schonell Drive, adjacent to UQ’s multistorey car parks recently.

The CPV tracking array is one component of UQ’s 1.22 MW solar generation system, which will be Australia’s largest and most powerful solar power system of its kind on completion in July.

In establishing the system, UQ is working closely with industry in a key renewable energy growth area.

Once all components are installed, the system will span four buildings at St Lucia, effectively coating the rooftops with 5000 polycrystalline silicon solar panels.

After being connected to the UQ power grid, the tracking array had its first full-sun day on 23 March, allowing it to be calibrated to the sun’s position and to start generating power.

The array is valued at about $90,000 and has been donated by Ingenero, the Brisbane firm that won the contract to install the overall 1.22 MW CPV solar array on campus.

The tracking panel is made up of 28 separate photovoltaic modules, each with 20 individual reflectors and a high-efficiency solar cell.

It is motor-driven on a dual axis to keep it closely aligned with the sun so optimum energy harvesting is ensured.

UQ’s is one of only 31 CPV tracking panels in Australia; the other 30 are at the Alice Springs Airport.

Prof Paul Meredith, of UQ’s School of Mathematics and Physics and Global Change Institute, said the January floods had set back the schedule of the project, so it had been “very gratifying” to see the CPV array begin generating power in recent months.

“We were busy installing the major parts of the solar array around the St Lucia campus from late last year, but much of that activity was out of sight, because it is on rooftops,” he said.

“The CPV solar tracking array is a high-visibility flagship for the overall UQ solar project.”

UQ Property & Facilities and the interdisciplinary UQ Renewable Energy Technology Advisory Committee are coordinating the project, supported by industry partners Ingenero, RedFlow, Energex and Trina Solar.

In another step forward for the UQ solar project, RedFlow’s zinc-bromine battery modules arrived on site at St Lucia in April.

Reprinted from the University of Queensland News.

University of Queensland

www.uq.edu.au