The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has awarded the Australian PV Institute (APVI) a $541,640 grant to examine opportunities for the solar PV supply chain in Australia.
The $1.12 million ‘Silicon to Solar’ study will look at domestic production, diverse supply chains, and regulatory approaches to achieve them.
According to ARENA, constraints and bottlenecks in global PV supply chains provide an elevated strategic risk to Australia as solar contributes a greater share of Australia’s electricity mix.
The Australian Energy Market Operator‘s Integrated System Plan projects Australia would require 120 GW of installed solar capacity by 2050, a fourfold increase from current capacity. ARENA’s white paper on ultra-low-cost solar portrays a future with over 1000 GW of installed capacity to accomplish a portion of the renewable energy superpower objective.
ARENA said delivering this change in solar capacity necessitates strong and dependable supply chains.
As a manufacturer of many of the raw materials necessary and a centre of technical expertise, Australia has the potential to play a larger role in solar PV production.
The Australian Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics (ACAP) has participated in the study, offering substantial expertise in solar PV research. 5B, AGL, Aspiradac, Energus, Siemens, SunDrive, and Tindo Solar are among the other industrial partners collaborating in the study.
APVI will collaborate extensively with industry partners as part of the study to uncover technical, commercial, regulatory, and social licence hurdles to expand domestic production.
According to ARENA CEO Darren Miller, the study will pave the way for more secure solar supply chains as the sector grows substantially.
“Low-cost solar generation will be the foundation stone of Australia’s net zero economy, so it’s vital that we have reliable supply chains,” Miller said.
He stated that with ARENA’s support, APVI would investigate strategies to safeguard Australia’s supply of solar panel inputs and explore the potential to realise the benefits of domestic manufacturing.
“The PERC solar cell, invented right here in Australia, is core to over 80% of the cells manufactured today. Since its invention, local research has been at the forefront of innovation. The Silicon to Solar study will help us find ways to play an increased role in production,” he added.
APVI project manager Dr Muriel Watt commented, “Australia has good working relationships with PV manufacturers across the world and is keen to develop diverse and sustainable supply chains as global and Australian demand increases.”
ARENA has supported ACAP with $129 million over the last ten years, reflecting Australia’s strong commitment to world-leading research in the area.
ARENA has also committed $41.5 million to 13 current solar PV research projects to achieve technological breakthroughs in ultra-low-cost solar.
